


Something Lost and Left Behind

by PlayingChello



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Assassin AU, M/M, Panic Attack, Violence, how does one tag, suffocation, there's only frickle frackle in the last chapter, uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-10-25
Packaged: 2018-02-16 13:29:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 45,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2271504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlayingChello/pseuds/PlayingChello
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The man he had been trying to see for the last hour or so was now in his view, pacing around his office in the building across the street. The man was Nile Dawk, the president of a company, Sina Corp., supplying weaponry and corrupt council to the military. This was his target."</p><p>In which Eren and Levi are assassins and happen to cross paths.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first little bit of this dumb idea I had. I've been wanting to get back into writing for a while and I've been so into the SnK fanfiction scene lately that I figured I'd just go ahead and give it a try. I hope people like it? I'm going to attempt to be fairly consistent with updates and I've got about three chapters written so far, but no guarantees.
> 
> Also, big thank you to [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com) for reading everything and editing and telling me when my ideas suck. And being the Nagisa to my Rei.
> 
> Also, I have a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com).
> 
> EDIT: The painting mentioned in this chapter is called Return of the Prodigal Son. It's a Rembrandt. I saw it in a church and thought it was particularly.... Lewd.

"Your reservation is at The Stohess. Room 1002," Armin's voice came through the cell phone at Eren's ear. He turned down the next street and spotted the building towering over the nearby structures.

 

"Found it. Thanks Armin."

 

"Make sure you call Mikasa when you've settled or she'll come find you regardless of her injuries."

 

Eren groaned inwardly. He just wanted one job where she wasn't butting in. "Fine," he replied tersely. "I've got to go check in now. I'll keep my email up and phone on for updates." He pressed the end button without waiting for a reply before walking into the hotel.

 

Eren was a bit awed, to say the least. The lobby was pretentious and opulent, all golds and dark burgundies. Eren wondered how their little trio managed to get him a room here. _Good job, Armin._ He took a moment to take in the world he had stepped into before taking a deep breath and walking up to the desk. The attendant looked him over as he stepped up.

 

"Hello sir, how may I help you today?"

 

"Reservation for Eren Jaeger."

 

"Certainly, one moment." The attendant moved his fingers along his keyboard to look up the reservation. Eren took the opportunity to glance around again. There was a painting behind the desk of some religious scene in which one man was laying hands upon another, but the angle made it look more like the first man was having a different kind of religious experience at the hand (read: mouth) of the other man. Eren bit back a snigger as he examined the painting. "May I see your ID, sir?" Eren was pulled from his art appreciation by the attendant's voice and quickly reached in his back pocket for his wallet, handing over his driver's license.

 

"Thank you, here is your room key, Mr.-,” the attendant looked back at his driver’s license, “Jaeger. Room 1002. The elevator is to your left. Please enjoy your stay." Eren took the key card from the attendant and smiled before heading to the elevator. When the doors opened, a short, dark haired man brushed past him quickly. He did a double take, watching the man walk away, before realising the elevator doors were closing and quickly turning to stick his hand through the opening to keep them from shutting. He got in and pressed the button for the tenth floor, the short man all but forgotten.

 

\--

 

“Did you check the room yet?”

 

Eren repressed a sigh. Mikasa had been pestering him for the last twenty minutes over the phone to make sure he was doing his job. “Would I have called you if I hadn’t?”

 

“I’m just making sure. You can be forgetful when you get excited.”

 

Eren made an indignant snort at that. He was about to reply when he heard a ding from his computer indicating an email. “I bet that’s the email from Armin letting me know the schedule and more details, I should go.”

 

“Eren.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Be careful.” Eren softened at this. He knew that even though Mikasa tended to be excessively overbearing, she really only cared for him. She just wanted him to come home safely.

 

“I will. I’ll talk to you later, Mikasa. Get some rest and heal up.”

 

“Bye” The line went dead and Eren turned to his computer to read the encrypted email from Armin.

 

_Eren,_

_Tomorrow you’ll have the perfect view out of your window to observe the target directly from a distance. Study him for a bit and see if you can pick up any habits or useful information. Then I’ll send you undercover in the building so you can look around, update our maps, and plant some cameras. I’ll have details on that tomorrow. You’ve got the rest of the night free, have fun._

_Armin_

 

He smiled a bit at Armin’s insistence he have fun and sighed heavily, letting muscles he didn’t realise were tensed relax. It was just past 2000 and he wasn’t tired. After a few moments of deliberation, he decided he’d pay a visit to the hotel bar for a drink and unwind.

 

The bar was understated and simple, unlike the rest of the hotel. It was lit sparingly with a soft orange glow. The bar itself was stacked to the teeth, with a long counter. There were a few tables spread out in the room as well, and several were occupied. Eren glanced around, already headed to sit down at the bar counter, when he noticed a lone figure seated down near the far end. As he approached he thought the person looked familiar, but couldn’t place him. On a whim, he decided to sit down next to him.

 

The stranger, without moving, glanced over at Eren for half a second before returning his gaze to his drink. Eren took the time waiting for the bartender to notice him to study the man he had chosen to force his company upon. He wore an expression somewhere between irritated and bored, and Eren immediately knew this was his default expression. He sat with his back ramrod straight, despite sitting on a barstool, and the line of his back gracefully eased into his neck where dark hair in a military-style undercut was neatly kept. He had small, sharp features, down to the thin hands gripping his drink. He repeated the eye flick from when Eren sat down, catching him in his blatant staring as the bartender finally made his way over.

 

“What can I get you?”

 

“Vodka martini,” Eren smirked before adding, “shaken, not stirred.” Both the bartender and the stranger looked at him strangely before the bartender shrugged and went to make the drink.

 

“How fucking old are you?” Eren turned in surprise to the stranger who had just spoken to him, but his surprise quickly morphed into indignance.

 

“I’m twenty-five, I’ll have you know. I just have a healthy love for pop culture. Also, it is polite to at least know the name of a person before asking personal details like their age.”

 

“Tch, fine, what’s your name then, brat?” Eren gritted his teeth, but he supposed he set himself up for that.

 

“Eren. And I’m not a brat, you don’t even look that much older than me!”

 

He exhaled sharply in what Eren took for amusement. “I’m thirty-seven.”

 

Eren’s brow furrowed. He looked the man (who was still looking at his drink, occasionally doing the eye flick thing back to Eren) over. He really looked no older than his late twenties. Eren continued staring, trying to find the wrinkles or anything to indicated the twelve additional years this man had over him. The only thing even remotely aging about him was the dark circles under his eyes, which really just made him look tired and unimpressed.

 

“Oi, take a picture.” Eren blinked, not realising how long he had been staring, and sputtered an apology. He turned back the the bar, finding his drink had been placed in front of him. He took a sip from the glass, letting the alcohol burn down his throat. A silence fell between the two. He didn’t really find it comfortable, but it wasn’t uncomfortable either.

 

The silence stretched on until both men had finished their drinks. Eren put some bills on the bar to pay for his drink and went to get up and found the man next to him getting up as well. He glanced at him before continuing toward the elevator, walking in mutual silence with the other man. Suddenly he stopped.

 

“That’s it!” The other man turned at looked at him with an eyebrow raised at his sudden exclamation. “You were leaving when I got here! That’s why you looked familiar.” The man’s eyebrow raised further, but he didn’t comment, simply turned and continued to to the elevator.

 

When they got into the elevator, the man pressed the button for his floor and Eren went to do the same to find the other man had pressed the ten. “We’re on the same floor, what a coincidence,” he said with a smile. The man didn’t look impressed, but also didn’t seem to be totally bothered by this revelation.

 

They fell into silence again until Eren was standing at the door to his room and the man was walking a bit further down the hall. Before he went in, though, he realised he had forgotten something. He turned toward where the man was now about to use his keycard, “Hey, you never told me your name.”

 

The man stopped and half glanced back to him from his place in front of the room next door. “Levi.” Then he disappeared behind his door.

 

\--

 

“Fucking finally. I’ve got a visual.” Levi stared through a scope out his hotel window. The man he had been trying to see for the last hour or so was now in his view, pacing around his office in the building across the street. The man was Nile Dawk, the president of a company, Sina Corp., supplying weaponry and corrupt council to the military. This was his target.

 

“I’m sorry we couldn’t get the other room, but someone had already reserved it,” Levi’s boss, Erwin, said through his earpiece.

 

Levi scoffed, “Yeah, I met him.” Erwin made an odd sound. “What?”

 

“Just musing the fact that you managed to engage in social interaction enough to know someone’s room number.”

 

Levi almost laughed. Almost. “Nothing happened, you fucking pervert. He sat next to me at the bar and we happened to leave at the same time. Seeing as his room is next door, I happened to notice that it’s the one I should be in for this.”

 

“Hmmmm.” Levi just rolled his eyes.

 

“What’s the plan?” Levi asked, more to stop the conversation from continuing on its current path.

 

“You need to get in there, learn the building, and decide how to best attack this. I can’t plan your every move from here, but you are more than capable. For today, just recon the building. You can either go in under the guise of a mail person or you can find your own way in.”

 

Levi spent approximately .02 seconds imagining himself in whatever shitty uniform the mail department wore in that building. “I’ll get in myself.”

 

Erwin chuckled. “Thought so. Good luck.” The line went silent.

 

Levi spent a few more minutes observing Dawk from his room, cursing Eren under his breath every time he went just a little too far to the right, putting him out of view. The brat was in the perfect room to see Dawk’s entire office, including the desk that sat just out of Levi’s view. After a while, Levi set up his discrete video camera to keep an eye on Dawk’s office while he was getting a feel for the building.

 

Before leaving his room, Levi went through his usual ritual of setting up traps. He pulled several hairs from his head, wetting them before placing them over the junction of the door and frame of the bathroom and closet doors. He hid his personal safe in the darkest corner of the room he could find. He checked his belt and his sock to confirm that both hidden knives he carried were rightfully in their place. As a final touch, he taped a simple sound recorder to the underside of a table after hitting record. Finally satisfied, he left the room.

 

Nile Dawk’s building was an imposing force across the street, all modern angles and corporate steel. The building adjacent to it was much simpler, non-descript, and most importantly, much easier to get into. Levi found an empty office space from which to launch his reconnaissance mission. The building he was in was close enough to his destination that he was confident in his abilities to make the jump. Because of the modern architecture, Dawk’s building had all sorts of odd ledges and angles on which to grab. Levi opened the window in the empty room he was in (thankfully he didn’t have to break it, what a mess that would have been) and set himself up for the jump. He checked to make sure all the criss-crossing straps of his harness under his suit were properly tightened before pulling out discrete hand triggers from his belt and squeezing them to send metal grapples flying from his belt. The grapples found their mark on a ledge and quickly yanked Levi out of the building and out into the air. He landed with his feet against the side of the building between two windows, one of which was cracked open. He eased himself over to the open window, glancing in for any people and breathed a sigh of relief. At least something was going well. The coast clear, he shoved the window open wider and let himself fall in as he retracted the grapples he hung by.

 

Levi found himself in a small office, probably of one of the peons just high enough to be out of a cubicle. He pulled out his phone to check the blueprints of the building, grabbed what looked like some kind of report from the desk, and left the room. He figured with the size of the company and the fact that he was dressed in business attire that he would blend in unnoticed as an employee. If anyone asks, he’s delivering a report.

 

Levi’s stroll through the building was largely uneventful. He spent time noting exits, air ducts, deviations from his blueprints, and any other useful information which could help him when he finally made his move. Whenever he found an advantageous location, he planted a small camera to watch over the area. By the time he had finished, he had planted several of the small cameras around the building. Very few people seemed to care what he was doing walking around, and those that did ask quickly lost interest after his story about delivering a report.

 

He knew that he wouldn’t be able to make it up to Dawk’s floor, let alone his office, so he left that for another day. He was just headed to the elevator to take his leave when he saw one of the mailmen for the building. Glad I didn’t decide to do it that way. The uniform was a hideous powder blue and included a hat. He was turning to continue on his way when the mailman turned just a bit more toward him and a jolt of recognition froze him to the spot. He recovered quickly, walking away toward the elevator as fast as he could manage without raising suspicion, his thoughts trying to process what he had seen. As the elevator dropped to the first floor, he tried to convince himself that his mind was playing tricks on him, that his age was catching up with him and he would need glasses because he couldn’t see clearly. But as the elevator opened and he rushed out of the building he realised he would never be able to mistake those sea-green eyes.

  
The mailman had been Eren.


	2. Bad Things Come in Twos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eren is a little shit. As usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, I cannot begin to describe how excited I have been all week. Thank you so so so much for reading and kudosing the first chapter. You are all gems. I could not wait for the weekend so I could update again!
> 
> As always, thanks to [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com) for being my beta, editor, best friend, and person I cry about all the gay pain with. Also, I bumped the rating because of the themes. Also, it'll go up again in the future.
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

"We have a fucking problem."

 

"Levi?"

 

"God damnit, Erwin, yes. We have a problem." Levi was exasperated. Levi didn't get exasperated. He ran one hand through his hair.

 

"What is it?"

 

"That fucking _brat_ from 1002 was there. He was there and I can't come up with a good reason why that would be."

 

"Levi. Calm down. It's the mission compromised?"

 

Levi took a deep breath, his calm facade restored. "I don't know."

 

Erwin sighed heavily into the phone. "You said you met him, any chance you got any information about him?"

 

"He said his name is Eren, but no fucking guarantees that's true. And he's twenty-five. And he's got a boner for James Bond.” _There was your first clue, dumbass._ “Shit. What does this mean?"

 

"It means Nile Dawk has been double booked." Erwin paused. Levi could hear his fingers flying on his keyboard through the receiver. "His name is Eren Jaeger. He used his real name to book the room. His mother is dead, father absent, has an adopted sister named Mikasa, who judging by what I have here is probably in the business, or should be. Eren’s family adopted her when her parents died at age 9. Otherwise leads a fairly mundane existence as far as I can tell. Someone's covering his tracks well..."

 

Levi had stopped paying attention and gone deadly silent. "Erwin. I know her." Erwin was silent, waiting for Levi to continue. "Mikasa. Have you ever seen the tattoo on my wrist?"

 

“The cherry blossom branch?” Levi heard clicking and a sharp intake of breath.

 

“She’s got one too. It’s an Ackerman symbol.” There was a pregnant pause. "She's my cousin."

 

"Get close to him. Find out if he really is after Dawk. Keep an eye on him. He could be useful." The line went dead.

 

The air in the room felt stagnant, dirty. And if there was one thing Levi hated it was dirt. He took a few moments to breathe before regaining control and deciding he didn’t want to stay in the room. He went through his leaving ritual and headed to the bar.

 

\--

 

“Everything seems to be going well so far. I even got up to Dawk’s floor and got a camera that can see his office door. Couldn’t get into his office though,” Eren huffed.

 

“Excellent, I didn’t expect you to make it into his office or see him at all. I’ll update our data with what you learned. We’ll talk about some potential approaches later. Tomorrow you’ll have to go through some of the footage from the cameras, get a feel for how the building runs, the routine. It’s getting late though, you should call it a night.”

 

If Mikasa wasn’t being a mom, Armin sure was. Eren didn’t protest too much though, Armin was right, he’d done enough for the day. He said his goodbyes and stared at himself in the mirror. He still wore the mail uniform from Dawk’s building. Scowling, he peeled the monstrosity off himself and found something more comfortable and considerably less hideous to wear. Glancing at the clock he saw he had some time to kill before he really needed to get to sleep. With the day’s recon finished, he didn’t have anything else to do, so he decided a drink would be a nice finish to the day.

 

The bar was largely empty when he entered. He chose a seat at the counter and ordered a scotch. He’d been staring off into space, sipping his drink, when a familiar voice invaded his mind.

 

“What, no martini tonight?”

 

The dark haired man from yesterday, Levi was his name, was seated next to him with a lit cigarette hanging loosely from his fingers.

 

“Felt like a scotch kind of night.”

 

Levi hummed in acknowledgement before taking a drag from his cigarette. Eren smiled to himself. He hadn’t really been expecting to see Levi again, but he’s glad that he did. He appreciated the company, since this was his first solo job. He also appreciated their companionable silences, at least Eren found them companionable. It also didn’t hurt that Levi was quite attractive. That thought widened Eren’s smile further.

 

“Oi, quit smiling like that, you’re freaking me out.”

 

“What, I’m not allowed to appreciate your sudden presence?” Eren retorted boldly. He saw Levi’s eyes widen fractionally for the briefest moment before returning to their usual unimpressed state. Eren simply smirked.

 

“Tch, just because you’re the only one in this shitty place doesn’t make you special.”

 

“Oh, I didn’t take you for someone who much cared for the company of other people. But you came to me and started talking. Now what am I supposed to make of that?” Eren enjoyed the banter they fell into. Levi was proving to be much easier to talk to than he appeared. Or maybe that was just because Eren persisted to make him talk.

 

“Your ego astounds me.” Levi took another drag from his cigarette and Eren thought he spotted the barest twinge of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

 

“So what brings you here, Levi?”

 

Levi looks at him incredulously, “I wanted a drink, but I thought that would have been obvious.”

 

Eren chuckles, “I meant to the Stohess. Why are you in town?”

 

Levi appeared to have tensed a bit, “Work.”

 

“Mmm, me too.” Silence fell over them. Eren felt a little uncomfortable by it this time, but didn’t make any attempt to fill it. He simply sipped at his drink while Levi smoked his cigarette and sipped at his own drink he had ordered. Eren took the time to observe the man sitting next to him. He wore a nice black button down with dress slacks. He held his drink oddly, over the rim rather than gripping around the glass. When he took another sip, Eren’s eyes followed to his face. All of his features were small and sharp, but still decidedly masculine. His face still held the same unimpressed expression as before, but Eren got the sense that he was actually quite content at that moment. His dark hair nearly obscured his steely blue-grey eyes, which mostly stared forward at the bottles of alcohol arranged neatly behind the bar. Eren’s eye’s continued their exploration down his broad shoulders, wondering how much muscle the man was hiding beneath his clothing. Before he could stop himself, his eyes traveled the curve of Levi’s ass before realising what he was doing and dragging his attention back to his drink and taking a sip for something to do.

 

Levi finished his drink first, despite having ordered later. When he reached into his pocket to pay, Eren reached over and grabbed his wrist, “Let me get it.” Levi stared at him for a moment, expression unreadable, before nodding his consent. Eren finished the last bit of his drink before reaching into his pocket to pay for the both of them. Placing the money on the counter, he turned around in his stool, leaning his back against the bar and looked over at Levi, a third of the way into a second cigarette.

 

“Do you know anything about this town?” Eren was feeling bold and despite the slight awkwardness earlier, he didn’t want their interaction to end.

 

“A little.” Levi continued to stare ahead, but did do his eye flick thing toward Eren for half a second.

 

“Well, know any good places for dinner? I haven’t eaten yet.”

 

This time Levi did look at him, evaluating him with his cool expression. Then he stood up and started walking away. Eren’s eyes widened, wondering what what he did to piss him off enough to leave without a word, when Levi turned back to him, “Are you coming or not, shithead?” Eren hesitated fractionally before walking quickly to catch up with the shorter man, still a bit in shock.

 

\--

 

Before long, Eren found himself staring at the door to Franz and Hannah’s. “Um, Levi? This is kinda… more than I was thinking. I’m not even dressed for a place like this.”

 

Levi glanced over to him and looked Eren over. Eren’s cheeks heated a little at the attention. “Tch, you’ll be fine.”

 

Eren hated spending money superfluously. Ever since his mother died and father left, he’d learned well how to budget. Even with the sizable amount of money that comes in from doing what he does, he still budgets himself the bare minimum he needs in order to be comfortable. He never lets himself eat at fancy places unless it’s necessary for work, in which case he’d just use the “company” account that Armin set up from their commissions for the three of them to use. Eren kept most of his earnings locked away in savings where he couldn’t touch it, leaving himself with what he needed to get by.

 

He mentally did the math and figured he could spare the extra money it would cost to eat here and followed an irritated Levi into the restaurant. After he requested a table for two, they were led to a small round table in the corner of the dining room against the wall. The host left them menus and walked off. Eren glanced at his menu and didn’t even look at the names of anything, simply found the cheapest thing and decided that would have to do.

 

“You look constipated as hell. What’s your problem?” Levi’s vulgar assessment made Eren snap his attention to the man sitting across from him.

 

“What the hell? I’m fine.”

 

Levi stared at him for a few moments, “If you’re worried about the price, I’m buying.”

 

“I can’t let you do that. That’s way too much.”

 

“You bought drinks. I’m buying dinner. I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to.” When Eren opened his mouth to protest, Levi gave him a withering stare that made sure there was no room for arguing. Instead, Eren buried his face behind his menu petulantly while muttering his thanks and reassessing his meal choice.

 

A young woman dressed in the restaurant’s serving uniform with thick dark hair in pigtails approached their table, “Good evening, my name is Mina and I’ll be your server for the night. Can I get you gentleman something to drink?”

 

Levi kept his eyes on Eren while he ordered, “A bottle of 1991 Côte Blonde.”

 

“Certainly, I’ll be right back with that and to take your orders.” She smiled and left them.

 

“I don’t know much about wine but that sounded pretentious,” Eren said when she was gone.

 

Levi’s features morphed into something more irritated, but there was a glint in his eyes that seemed almost playful, “I am pretentious, but it just so happens that I enjoy that wine. I’m sure you will too, it’s very good.”

 

Eren’s eyes widened a bit at the implication, but remembered Levi’s insistence on paying and almost rolled his eyes. He settled for raising an eyebrow, “What, is this like a date?”

 

Eren almost missed the ever so slight widening of Levi’s eyes before his expression became a scowl. Almost. “Tch, shitty brat. I’m twelve years older than you.”

 

“That’s not answering the question.” Eren smirked.

 

Levi looked like he was about to respond when Mina returned with their wine. “Have you decided on something to eat?”

 

Levi ordered without looking at her, “I’ll have the quail and fois gras.”

 

Eren looked at her and smiled, “I’d like the yellowtail, please.”

 

She smiled back at both of them, though it was decidedly less brilliant when she looked at Levi, “I’ll have that right out for you, let me know if you need anything else.” She opened their wine, poured each of them a glass, left the bottle on the table and walked off.

 

“Do you flirt with everything with legs?”

 

Eren cocked his head to the side in question, “No?”

 

Levi raised his eyebrow in his disbelief, but kept his comments to himself. Instead, he watched Eren as he sipped at his wine and hummed in appreciation before taking a drink of his own. When he did, Eren noticed color on his wrist, bare since he had rolled his sleeves up when they had sat down. “My sister has a similar tattoo,” he said quietly into his glass.

 

Something flashed across Levi’s eyes that Eren couldn’t place before becoming thoughtful. “It’s a cherry blossom.” He turned his wrist toward Eren so he could see it more clearly.

 

“Yeah, her’s is too. Yours is different though, more realistic. Her’s has the abstract quality to it, a lot of bleeding colors, like it’s on rice paper. Yours still looks Japanese, but more subtle, more…”

 

“I get it, you don’t need to explain yourself.” Eren was a bit put out at having been halted in his musings, but was simultaneously glad that he had been stopped from making too much of an idiot of himself. He wasn’t always great with words, he tended to be better at using actions to get his meanings across.

 

Eren was yanked from his internal struggle when Levi spoke again, “Jesus, kid, do I even want to know what’s making you make all those faces?”

 

“I was just… lost in thought I guess,” he mumbled into his glass.

 

They lapsed into silence, sipping at their wine occasionally. It wasn’t until Levi was refilling Eren’s glass that the silence was broken, and Eren was surprised that Levi was the one to do so. “So you said you were here for work, what is it you do?”

 

“Security,” he said, ever so slightly too quickly. Something in Levi’s eyes told Eren he didn’t really believe him, but he didn’t press. Security was Eren’s best cover story, since he could be a bit more honest about his activities, and it explained his need to watch ridiculous amounts of footage of the inside of buildings.

 

“Very informative.”

 

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware I needed to explain my entire work schedule to you. Do you want to hear about the hours of footage I have to comb through or the dumbass uniforms I have to wear to hide from the regular employees?” Eren fired back, words dripping with sarcasm. Levi raised one eyebrow, but didn’t respond. “Sorry, tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

 

Levi’s response was a hum of understanding. Seeing as bold and rash pretty much summed up Eren, he went for the question that came to the front of his head, “So I told you, what do you do?”

 

He supposed he should have expected the tense of Levi’s muscles and the irate expression he received in response, but Eren tended not to think much about his words before they came out. But now that he had asked, Eren continued to stare down Levi while Levi attempted to crystallise him with the frigidity of his glare. “I’m not going to answer that.”

 

“That’s not suspicious at all. What, are you in the mob or something, ‘I’d tell you but then I’d have to kill you?’”

 

“And if I was?” Levi’s face became amused, all signs of his earlier frigidity vanished.

 

Eren shrugged, playful grin pulling at his lips, “Eh, I’ve seen worse.”

 

“Tch,” Eren couldn’t be positive, but he could have sworn a smile ghosted at the edges of Levi’s mouth, and his eyes sparkled with amusement.

 

The rest of their dinner continued much the same. Their food came and they continued to exchange sarcastic banter. Occasionally, they would fall into comfortable silences. Eren realised that he had been genuinely enjoying the time he spent with Levi. He found himself letting his guard down and flirting shamelessly when the opportunity arose. He was never sure if Levi caught on though. Sometimes his eyes narrowed in incredulity, but his overall blank expression and lack of response to the comments made it hard to tell if he was oblivious or just annoyed. Either way, Levi hadn’t yelled at him, so he figured he was safe to continue in his fun.

 

After a very satisfying meal, Mina came back with the bill and set it on the table, assuring she would return to collect it. Despite their earlier conversation, Eren still tried to reach for the bill to pay for his own meal, but Levi’s hand shot over and snatched up the little black folder. “I told you, I’m buying.”

 

“I still think that it’s too much, let me at least help,” he reached toward his pocket to get his wallet.

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Eren froze and looked at Levi in surprised question. “Just let me do it.”

 

Raising his hands in surrender, Eren conceded, “Fine. But I’ll consider myself indebted. Let me buy you lunch or something.”

 

Eren almost flinched at the glare he got from Levi, but when he didn’t say anything, he took it as an ascension.

 

Having paid, they left together, returning to the hotel. It had gotten quite late during their shared meal, so they silently agreed to call the night done and walked together to the tenth floor in silence. Eren was about to put his keycard in the door when Levi spoke, “Eleven thirty.”

 

“What?”

 

“You said you were going to buy me lunch, the hotel has a decent café. I’ll be ready at eleven thirty.”

 

“Um, o-okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then?” The sudden invitation was throwing Eren off. Levi simply hummed his assent and entered his room, leaving Eren alone in the hall. After the moment of shock wore off, he went into his room for the night.

 

\--

 

**To: Erwin Smith**

**22:54**

_I fucking hate you._

 

\--

 

The morning came much too soon for Eren. After making a cup of coffee in the poor excuse for a coffee machine in his room, he settled down at the computer to go through the footage he had captured from the cameras he had placed in the Sina Corp. building. He spent most of his time on the footage of Dawk’s office door, even though nothing other than Dawk’s coming and goings happened. This was made more uninteresting by the fact that Dawk only left at the very end of the night (at around 2300) and came back that morning (at 0530 on the dot). The rest of the cameras just showed the normal comings and goings of the regular employees, who all left by 1900 and were back starting at 0700, with the exception of a night janitor and two night security men who were there overnight.

 

By 1030, Eren had sifted through all of the footage up to the present and forwarded his notations on to Armin. Realising the time, he quickly ran around, getting ready for the day and for seeing Levi. It was 1115 by the time he was pulling on his shirt and he swore as he ran around the room, setting up his tells in case of intrusion. At 1124, there was a knock on his door.

 

He opened the door, “You’re ear—”

 

The gun in his face gave Eren the distinct impression that his visitor was not Levi. He was pushed back into his room and the door banged shut behind the intruder, catching on the chain, and not closing completely. His hand floated to his back, where his hidden holster sat underneath his pants, when he realised that the cool metal he was looking for was still lying on the nightstand next to the bed. In his haste to get ready for lunch, he had failed to do his most basic of actions, he had failed to grab his gun. His mind was buzzing with effort to try to find a way out of this. The man in front of him was moving too fast, backing him deeper into the room, and further from any sort of escape. Suddenly, an onslaught of years-old memories assaulted him, reminding him of the last time he felt this totally helpless. But he’d had help then. He was alone now, with no way left to fight. He was fucked. He thought of Armin, his best friend and confidant. He thought of Mikasa, his sister, who would surely hurt herself trying to exact revenge for his stupidity. He thought of Levi, the stranger he had spent the last two nights with, the man who he was supposed to have lunch with. He thought of how sad it was that these were the only people he really had to think about in his life. The friends of an assassin were far and few between. His back hit the wall in the corner, he had nowhere else to go. Over the intruder’s shoulder, he glanced to the door, only a few paces away. But it simply was not possible for him to be faster than the bullet. He shut his eyes in anticipation of the shot.

  
He heard the explosion of a gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFFHANGER! Sorry. Anyway, the plan is to update on the weekends. It may not always happen, but that is the idea for now, and there will definitely be a new chapter up next weekend. Anyway, I'll be tracking the tag fic: slalb and posting tidbits and such in there, I might even post some teasers or headcannons. And if you have any questions you can tag them or send me an ask.
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com).


	3. A Box Full of Tricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My name is Erwin Smith. I run the Survey Legion Group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh guys. thank you so so so much for commenting, kudosing, and reading. It means so much to me. I am so pleased that people are actually reading this and liking it.
> 
> This chapter is... maybe a little boring? Not all that much happens in it, but it's important. I'm really nervous about this one actually. Next week is going to be really exciting though.
> 
> As always, thank you to my beta/editor/best friend [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com) who leaves me fun little notes when she reads things.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com)

Levi had been ready for an hour. The footage from his cameras had been entirely useless save for a better understanding of the regular employees’ comings and goings. None of his cameras caught even a glance of Nile Dawk, not even the one he had in the elevator. Dawk must have a private elevator or take the stairs. But now that it was finally time, Levi could leave the stifling space that his room had become and get something to eat.

 

He arrived at Eren’s door and was about to knock when he saw the door was cracked, held open by the locking chain. All of the warning bells in his brain were sent into hyper drive. Something was not right here. Despite the fact that he had only met the kid two nights ago, he knew that he couldn’t possibly be stupid enough to leave his door open like this. Levi’s hand flew to his gun, hidden underneath his jacket before pushing the door open.

 

The scene in front of him was not good. Eren was on the other side of the room, just having hit the wall opposite the door. An unknown figure dressed darkly and hooded was in front of Eren with a gun drawn, pointed between his eyes. The intruder’s back was to Levi, his full attention on Eren. It took Levi no time at all to decide his course of action. Instinct took over. Erwin thought Eren could prove useful, therefore, he needed to be protected. He barely realised he had moved when his gun sounded and the mysterious man dropped, a 40 caliber round from Levi’s Glock 27 lodged in his brain.

 

The silence in the room after the excessively loud gunshot was deafening. For several long moments, neither of them moved. Eren’s eyes were squeezed shut and Levi just stared at him, gun still drawn, but lowered. Finally, Eren’s eyes slowly opened and met Levi’s. Levi could see every emotion, every thought, laid out in those fucking eyes. First there was surprise, then question, then realisation and panic. Finally, his expression settled on something along the lines of resignation. Levi’s face remained schooled into a blank returning stare, not revealing any of his thoughts, waiting for Eren to open the lines of communication. He knew something was about to happen, he had revealed his hand. However much he hadn’t wanted to, it had been necessary.

 

“So I think we need to have a conversation,” Eren’s voice was quiet, but sure and unwavering. Levi was impressed by his composure. While he knew Eren had to be accustomed to death, seeing the stranger he had shared a couple drinks and a meal with doing the killing had to have been a major shock. Especially since he knew it made his position vulnerable. He didn’t have much to worry about there though, as Levi already knew his true profession.

 

“First, we need to get away from here. There is no way no one heard that,” Levi holstered his gun, confident the danger had passed, and glanced around. “Lunch? And watch your step, this place is a mess.”

 

Eren nodded his assent and moved for the first time since Levi had entered the room. He watched him silently as he crossed to the nightstand to retrieve a gun, a Ruger P-944 if he had it right, and holster it at his back. When he had made it to where Levi was standing, Levi turned and walked out of the room with him, making sure the door shut free of the lock chain.

 

On their way down to the café, Eren tried to pull out his phone, but Levi stopped him and called Erwin on his own.

 

“I need cleanup, cover-up, and preferably an alibi stating Eren and I arrived at the hotel café fifteen or so minutes ago.”

 

“Details later, I assume?”

 

“Yeah yeah. We’ll have a big motherfucking pow-wow about it. Just get me what I need. I’ll be in touch.”

 

Levi hung up the phone before Erwin would get another word in and found Eren staring at him.

 

“Whatever you’re thinking can wait until I have tea.” Eren averted his eyes, staying quiet and they continued on.

 

Once seated and served drinks, black tea for Levi and coffee for Eren, Levi decided to start before Eren could ask any of his questions.

 

“I already knew about you. Saw you at Sina. It was happy coincidence I came in before you had your brains plastered to the wall.”

 

Eren sighed, “So clearly there is more than meets the eye to both of us.” He paused a moment, brow furrowed. His eyes widened and Levi waited for what he knew was coming, “Wait, you saw me at Sina? What were you doing there?”

 

Levi had honestly hoped the kid would have been slightly smarter than that, but you can’t have everything you want in life. “We’re in the same business, you and I. It just so happens our objectives are the same. What I don’t know is how, why, or who you’re working for.”

 

Levi stared Eren down as he processed this information, thoughts clear in his eyes again. They were so expressive. Levi could easily get lost in the blue-green storm of emotion he found there. He almost did, before Eren spoke. “We’re small, but I can’t really say more without talking to the other members.” The determination and passion was burning in his eyes.

 

“Fine. We really will have that big fucking pow-wow. Great.” He picked his teacup up from the top, a habit learned from bitter circumstances long in the past, and took a long sip of tea. Before either of them could say anything more, Levi’s phone pinged with a notification of a new message.

 

**From: Erwin Smith**

**12:17**

_Eren’s room will be set for him to return to by tomorrow morning. Until then, I suggest he stay with you._

 

Levi read the message over a couple times before huffing in resigned indignation.

 

“Come on brat, let’s get this over with.” Levi finished the last of his tea, threw some bills on the table and got up, not caring if Eren had finished his drink and not willing to hear protests about paying.

 

Once they were safely inside room 1003, Levi told Eren to tell whoever he needed to to get ready for a conference call and texted Erwin to say that they’d be ready shortly.

 

“Well this will be a fucking joy,” Levi deadpanned.

 

A few minutes later and Levi and Eren were seated at the small table in the corner of the room with Levi’s phone between them, Erwin and Armin in on a conference call.

 

Erwin was the first one to speak, always the diplomatic one, “Hello Armin, Eren. My name is Erwin Smith. I run the Survey Legion Group. As I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, we deal in assassination and information. Levi, here, is one of our very best, chosen for that reason for this job to eliminate one Nile Dawk. You have been commissioned for the same person, yes?” His inflection asked a question, but Levi knew he only did it to gain information. Erwin already knew the answer.

 

“We have. We’re small time though, there are only three of us. We call ourselves The Shiganshina Group. Usually all of our jobs are done jointly by Eren and our other member, but due to injury, that isn’t the case this time.” Levi watched Eren while Armin responded to Erwin. For once, his face was more or less blank. He could see apprehension and determination in his eyes, but nothing to tell how accurate the information being revealed was. It also did not escape Levi’s notice that Armin only volunteered exactly as much information as Erwin, not giving away anything more.

 

“Who ordered the hit?” Erwin’s voice pierced Levi’s thoughts.

 

“It was anonymous,” Armin answered without hesitation. Clearly this was either not as classified, or he had a reason to give up the information. More likely the latter. He knew Erwin was enjoying the intellectual chess match they were having.

 

“Ours too. Likely the same person. Either they really wanted Dawk dead, or there is something more going on here. What information do you have gathered on Dawk?”

 

At this point, Levi stopped listening. He could tell that the conversation was really only between Armin and Erwin. If he needed to know anything about what they talked about, he was sure Erwin would summarise appropriately. He looked over at Eren and caught him staring. Undeterred, Levi returned the stare. To his surprise, Eren impressed him by not backing down. They watched each other in silence while the sounds of the coordinators’ voices permeated the air. All of the apprehension and nervousness from before had vanished from Eren’s eyes, left only was determination and… something else. Curiosity was the closest word he could think of, but it wasn’t entirely satisfying to explain the depth of emotion swimming in those eyes.

 

Eren broke their eye contact, but not out of shame or discomfort. Levi watched him as his eyes raked down Levi. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t notice the way Eren’s gaze was always appraising him. Thinking about it, he realised he may have given the brat ideas with their time spent together over the last 48 hours. He’d have to be more careful.

 

“Alright,” the way Erwin’s voice raised and his inflection changed, addressing all the people in attendance, made Levi bring his attention back to the moment. He turned to look at the phone. “We still have a job to do. From here on, Levi and Eren will work together.” Levi’s mouth twitched, almost letting it fall into a scowl, but stopping himself. “All information is to be freely shared.”

 

Before they hung up, a female voice could be heard quietly from the background, “Armin, what’s going on?” Levi visibly stiffened, before forcing himself to relax, hoping Eren didn’t catch his reaction to a voice he shouldn’t care about. When he looked over at the man in question, he figured he was safe, as Eren’s face was twisted into a frown and he was staring intently at the phone. “Mikasa?”

 

“Eren!” The voice was louder, presumably because she had both gotten close and Armin had turned on speaker phone.

 

“What are you doing? You’re supposed to be at home, resting.”

 

“I’m fine. What’s going on?”

 

Before anyone else could say anything, Erwin stepped in. “Hello, I’m Erwin Smith from the Survey Legion group. Levi and Eren have the same target, so we’ve decided the best course of action is for them to work together to complete the job.”

 

The line was quiet for a moment, “Levi?”

 

“That’s what he said,” Levi scoffed bitingly. He could almost hear her eyes widen, but she didn’t say anything.

 

“I don’t like it,” Mikasa said blankly. Eren looked like he was going to say something, but thought better of it. They could hear quiet speaking, Armin was talking to her.

 

After a few moments, Erwin spoke up, “Well, if there aren’t anymore questions, we all have things to get back to. We’ll all keep in touch.” They heard Armin and Mikasa mutter a goodbye before they went silent and Levi reached over and ended the call, blanketing the room in silence. A few beats passed tensely, then Eren stood up.

 

“Where are you going?” Eren stopped and looked at Levi in question.

 

“Back to my room…” his voice trailed off at the end.

 

“Your room won’t be ready for you until morning, Erwin sent clean-up in. You’ll have to stay here tonight.” Levi watched his face carefully.

 

Eren looked like he was going to protest, but changed his mind, “I need my computer, all of my surveillance is on it. And I don’t even have clothes.”

 

“If I know Erwin, he’ll have thought of that.” As if on cue, and since Levi knew Erwin kept tabs on him it very well could have been, there was a knock at the door. As expected, a duffle bag with some of Eren’s belongings was handed to him before he gracelessly slammed the door in the face of the deliverer. He shoved the duffle bag into Eren’s chest before going to his computer to check his emails. He could hear Eren move about the room, setting up his laptop. Levi went through the motions of checking his email and glancing over the new footage, none of which was any help. Eren was distracting him, though. Even though the kid had been at his computer, not saying anything, he still managed to be loud to Levi, who was accustomed to the silence of an empty room. Eren fidgeted, mumbled to himself, hummed, and generally created a lot of idle racket. For lack of anything better to do, and more to stop the incessant fidgeting, Levi asked, “Who’s Mikasa?” As if he didn’t already know the answer. Maybe he was picking some things up from Erwin.

 

“My sister. She usually comes with me on jobs, but she broke her ankle last week so she couldn’t come on this one.”

 

“She sounds like she’s up your ass.” Levi was not known for his tact.

 

Levi thought Eren might yell at him for that comment, most people would have. But instead, Eren let out a loud, genuine laugh. Levi looked at him like he had gone insane. “Well, you aren’t wrong. She can be a bit overbearing,” he said when he could breathe again.

 

Levi watched him for a bit longer, trying to decide if he was being forced to share a room with a crazy person, before he asked, “How did she break her ankle?”

 

Eren sobered up a bit, but didn’t look upset by the question, “She thought I was in trouble on our last job. She’s pretty protective, so she kinda lost her cool and landed on it wrong. She doesn’t usually do that, she’s very stoic. Reminds me of you, actually.”

 

Levi’s eyebrow shot up, but he otherwise kept his thoughts to himself. His gaze fell on Eren’s computer screen and what he saw made his eyes widen in surprise. “You have a camera on Dawk’s office?”

 

Eren looked generally confused for a moment, probably not understanding where that had come from, before realising the footage was up on his screen and smiling, “Yeah, managed to get up to that floor, but couldn’t get inside so I’ve just got a visual on the door.”

 

“Anything useful?”

 

“Not much yet. He stays late and comes in early. Haven’t seen anyone else go in or out other than him and only when he left for the night and came back in the morning. I’m surprised he doesn’t just sleep there.”

 

“That would make our lives too easy.” Levi pulled up a chair behind Eren to look over his shoulder, “Show me what you have so far.”

 

\--

 

Eren leaned back heavily in his chair, sighing in exhaustion. By 2200, they had made a complete exchange of information, both of them caught up on what the other had gathered. Eren’s biggest surprise from Levi was when he told him about his grapple device. Otherwise, most of their information gathering had revealed the same information, even if they had gone about it differently.

 

The evening had gone by quickly and comfortably, but now that there was no longer work to discuss, Eren began to feel a bit uncomfortable in Levi’s presence. He didn’t have long to dwell on it though, as Levi had just gotten out of his chair. Eren tensed up, but didn’t turn around.

 

Something soft hit the back of his head, “Get in the shower. There’s no way you’re sleeping in here with who only knows what filth all over you.”

 

At this, Eren did turn around. He stared, confused and incredulous, at Levi. Levi didn’t seem to care and just huffed a breath before picking up a book and sitting himself in the recliner in the corner of the room. Eren continued to stare for a few moments before accepting that Levi would not offer an explanation and went to get in the shower.

 

When he came out, dressed in naught but a towel around his waist, Levi was still reading and glanced up when Eren entered the room. Eren allowed him a satisfied smirk when he saw Levi’s glance turn into a stare. “Like what you see?”

 

Levi’s eyes shot up to meet Eren’s, widened ever so slightly. Eren’s smirk grew, “Shower’s free.”

 

“Hope you didn’t take a shit in there. Took you long enough,” he muttered before he got up and walked to the bathroom.

 

Eren dressed and grabbed his laptop before settling onto the bed and opening Solitaire. He’d gotten really good at it since Mikasa wasn’t a very good conversationalist, and also tended to take over a lot of the more mundane aspects of a job, leaving Eren a lot of free time. When Levi returned from the bathroom, all he got was a ‘tch’ before he went back to his book. This time it was Eren’s turn to stare, but not because Levi had walked out half naked, but because he had instead walked out dressed in sleep clothes, which looked extraordinarily odd after having seen him in nothing but suits and dress clothes. The soft grey shirt and flannel pants hanging on his frame didn’t sit right in Eren’s brain. Not that he was complaining. Something low in his abdomen bubbled warmth. It was then that Levi decided to glance up at him, catching him staring. One of Levi’s eyebrows went up, almost in challenge. He felt his cheeks heat up a bit, but didn’t break the eye contact. He never was one to back down from a challenge.

 

Levi’s eyebrow shot up even further, which Eren didn’t think possible. In bold defiance of the challenge offered, Eren smirked and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Levi lowered his eyes and shook his head slightly. “You’re a little shit.”

 

“Little? That’s rich, coming from you.” Eren never was very good with his brain to mouth filter, and realised he may have just said something he really shouldn’t have. But Levi surprised him, simply shrugging in response.

 

“I find being smaller tends to help in my line of work. Doesn’t mean much anyway, I can still beat the shit out of you.”

 

Eren opened his mouth to protest, but closed it when Levi shot him a look that left no room for argument. He took the hint and let the conversation die. He looked down at his laptop screen and saw he had already lost the game of solitaire he had been working on, and upon looking at the time, decided it was a good time to call it a night. He closed his laptop, laying it on the nightstand next to him before wiggling himself under the comforter.

 

“What are you doing?” Levi was watching him.

 

“Getting some sleep, it’s late and I’m sure we’re going to have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

 

Levi continued to watch him, expression even more blank than usual. “There’s a couch.”

 

“Hell no, not only will I not be able to sleep, but I’ll have a sore back for a week, and we can’t afford that right before a job. Trust me.”

  
Levi’s mouth twisted at the end of that, but didn’t seem to want to continue his protest. Instead, he came over to the other side of the bed and climbed in. “If you kick me, you’ll be on the floor and you can stay behind for the job.” Eren didn’t doubt his threat. He turned the light off on his side right before Levi did the same to his. There was rustling as they both settled into their sides of the bed. Eren noted the canyon that seemed to extend between them, but within moments he was too tired to care and slipped into slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So next week they'll actually do their jobs! Anyway, thanks again for reading and kudosing and commenting, I really do appreciate it.


	4. Let the Headlines Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are we ready?”
> 
> “We have to be.” Levi got up and started walking to the door. On his way he picked up Eren’s duffle bag and threw it back to his feet. “Get your shit, your room has a better view.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EARLY UPDATE! I was writing furiously all day and I just couldn't wait till morning for this to go up, so, HERE IT IS! Levi and Eren actually do their jobs for once.
> 
> Thank you so so so much for commenting, kudosing, etc. I appreciate it so much and it's so great to hear what people think. This was supposed to just be a silly little Mr. and Mrs. Smith AU oneshot, and now I have 30k words written and quite a bit left to go. So there is plenty to look forward to.
> 
> As always, all of the thanks to [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com) for reading my insane ramblings and tolerating my dumb headcanons.
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com).

The door opens and a large blonde man with a bushy mustache looks down at him.  “How did you find this place?”

 

“I, uh, the forest. I got lost. Then I saw this cabin...” The lie stumbles from his lips, hand grasping the knife hidden behind his back.

 

The man kneels down to his level and ruffles his hair condescendingly, “A kid like you shouldn’t be out in the forest all alone. There are scary things out there. But don’t worry, my friend and I can—”

 

He feels the soft skin of the man’s neck part easily from his blade, the blood warm as it runs down to the hilt and onto his hand. “Thank you, sir, I’ve caught on already.”

 

The man tries to grab at his neck but nothing could stop the explosive spurts of blood being pumped through the wound. He slumps to the side.

 

Taking the opportunity the surprise had given him, he runs across the room to a closet while the second man, with dark hair hidden in a hat and an axe in his hand, yells at him to stop. When the man catches up to him and throws the door of the closet open, he’s ready with a makeshift spear. He shoves it into the man’s shoulder with all his strength before straddling him and using the knife he brought to slam into him repeatedly, screaming for him to die, that he deserves it.

 

After some time he finally stops, his body goes limp as he kneels over the man. He wipes his face, covered in blood and sweat, with his sleeve before looking over at the girl laying on the floor, wrists bound behind her and dried blood collecting at the split in her lip. He gets up and walks over to her, “You’re going to be ok, I’m here to help.” He quickly cuts the rope binding her hands.

 

As she rubs at her wrists, she speaks so quietly he has to strain to understand the words, “There should be three of them.”

 

As he was trying to process the words, a third man enters the room, confused, but recovers quickly. The man kicks him hard in his stomach, sending him sprawling, before picking him up by his hair and pressing him to the wall by his throat. He’s screaming at him for the deaths of his friends. His mind feels fuzzy, white creeping at the edges of his vision, threatening to take over. He chokes, sputters, and looks over to the girl. “Fi-fight,” he chokes out. Then, taking as deep a breath as he could with the man’s hand gripping his windpipe, “Fight, you can’t win if you don’t fight!” He screams, but it’s hoarse.

 

The girl hears though. She nervously picks up the knife that had lain forgotten on the floor next to her and stands. She looks conflicted, like she doesn’t think she’s capable of harming another person. A storm rages through her head as tears flow from his eyes, his vision cloudy with black spots and tunneling. Just before his mind would have gone blank, he sees something change in her eyes, determination floods her features and a coldness enters her eyes.

 

The next thing he knows, he’s crumpled on the ground, with the man slumped on top of him. He sees her standing in front of him, breathing hard, her expression dark and cold. He just sits there, with the dead man pressing his weight into him until they hear the door open. He turns to look—

 

Eren jerked awake violently. The room was grey with the early morning light and he knew something wasn’t right. He jerked again when he heard soft, even breathing next to him and scrambled to sit up. Something to his right moved and he saw a silhouette rise from the other side of the bed. Eren curled into himself, squeezing his eyes shut, willing this to be a dream. He heard a sharp intake of breath and then felt a tentative touch on his knee.

 

“Hey.”

 

And with that quiet word everything came flooding back. Eren’s eyes opened slowly and he remembered he was in a hotel room. The figure beside him was Levi. They had a job to do. He wasn’t nine years old anymore. Mikasa was safe, albeit injured. Those men were long since dead. He was safe. At least for now. He picked up his head and looked over at Levi. Even in the dark, Eren could still see the shock in his eyes accompanied by, worry?

 

“Sorry. Nightmare. It’s been a while since I’ve had one. I’m sorry.” Eren’s mouth ran away with him trying to explain why he had woken Levi up.

 

“Hey, kid, it’s ok. We all get them. Comes with the territory.” Levi’s voice was soft and he looked almost like he was holding his breath, like he was concerned that any sudden movements would startle Eren.

 

Eren just stared back at him. Then he realised that there was a pressure on his knee. He looked down to find that Levi had never removed his hand. Seconds later, though, it was pulled away. He felt the bed shift and looked back up to see Levi getting off.

 

“Are you not going back to sleep? What time is it?”

 

Levi glanced at the watch on his wrist, “It’s 0442. I’m up now, I won’t be able to go back to sleep.” Levi continued on into the bathroom, leaving Eren holding himself on the bed alone. He took a few more moments before extracting himself from the bed and picking up his phone.

 

**To: Mikasa Ackerman**

**04:43**

_How’s your ankle?_

 

**From: Mikasa Ackerman**

**04:43**

_What’s wrong?_

 

Eren sighed. He knew she would be able to see right through him.

 

**To: Mikasa Ackerman**

**04:44**

_I’m fine, just had a nightmare._

 

Eren padded over to his duffle bag to pull out some clothes and got dressed.

 

**From: Mikasa Ackerman**

**04:46**

_I’m alright. It’s all in the past._

 

Eren sighed again. Of course she would know exactly what the nightmare had been about. She was there, too, after all. Nothing binds two people closer than sharing their first kills, raw with emotion and rage, the need to protect. Eren didn’t bother responding. He just made some coffee and curled up in the recliner to drink it.

 

\--

 

When Levi came out of the bathroom, his eyes immediately found Eren sipping coffee in the recliner. When their eyes met, he was rewarded with a big, genuine smile. There was still a shadow that plagued his big expressive eyes, though. Levi wasn’t sure what to say, so he did what he did best and ignored it, deciding coffee was a good idea.

 

“I killed two men when I was nine.”

 

Levi nearly dropped the empty mug he had been carrying. He spun around and narrowed his eyes at Eren, who was staring down into his own mug. “What?”

 

“My father was a doctor,” Eren’s use of was didn’t escape Levi, he recalled Erwin telling him that Eren’s father was absent, but not dead. There must have been some animosity there. “When I was little, he would take me with him when he went on house calls. It was late fall, we went on a house call to Mikasa’s house. It was a routine trip, nothing out of the ordinary. My dad knocked on the door and it just swung open. I’d never seen that shade of red before. And there was so much. Her father had been stabbed. Her mother… Half her face was gone and there was a huge slice out of her neck from an axe strike. But Mikasa wasn’t there. Just her parents’ bodies.

 

“Dad told me he was going to call the police and told me to wait by the car. Mikasa lived in a neighbourhood that backs up to a forest. I knew that if we were going to find her, I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit around and wait. So I went looking. It didn’t take long to find the shack. I could hear them talking about selling her, debating on her value. I hid a knife behind my back and knocked.” Eren’s eyes closed and he fell silent. Levi hadn’t moved since he started talking. He just stared at Eren, empty coffee mug still in his hand. Several minutes passed like this. Levi was about to give up on hearing the rest, was about to turn back around, when Eren started again.

 

“The first guy was easy. He lapped up my lost little boy story and before he knew it, my knife was in his throat. The second guy was harder. I ran for cover in a broom closet, managed to put together a spear with a broom handle and some broken glass. When the door opened, the guy was standing there with his axe, I put all my weight into the thrust. I hit his shoulder and he fell, but he wasn’t dead. So I climbed on top of him and started stabbing. This was the guy I thought had cut down Mikasa’s mother. It wasn’t until later I found out that wasn’t true. But in that moment, it was all that mattered. I was screaming. He deserved to die, he was an animal, scum of the Earth. I didn’t stop until I could barely hold myself up anymore. I have no idea how many times I put that knife into him. But once I stopped, I saw Mikasa. She was laying on the floor with her hands tied behind her back. I cut her free and she told me there had been three men.” Levi’s eyes widened ever so slightly.

 

“The guy chose that moment to come in and kick me across the room. He tried to strangle me, yelling about revenge for his friends. I couldn’t move. I thought I was going to pass out. But Mikasa, she picked up the knife that I dropped. She stabbed him through the heart from behind. Something in her changed that day. She was pretty meek, but when she had decided she needed to do something, something dark and cold took over her eyes and it hasn’t let up since.

 

“The police came. They didn’t charge us. Hell, they didn’t even believe us. We were just kids. Nine years old. The carnage we created shouldn’t have been possible.” He stopped again, but only for a minute. “Anyway, that was what I dreamt about.”

 

Levi’s mind was reeling. This kid had just dropped a fuck ton of emotional baggage on him with no warning. And it was all new information. He knew Mikasa’s parents had died, but was unaware of any of the circumstances. He hadn’t known she had even been home when it happened. He was pissed. And at a loss. He’d never been good with dealing with emotions, not even his own. This was more emotional content than he had experienced in years. He knew the kid didn’t know him all that well, but he was sure that he had at least been keyed in on Levi’s emotional apathy. He wasn’t subtle about it. Then why had he felt the need to dump this sob story on him?

 

And yet, a part of Levi couldn’t seem to care that his distaste for emotion was violated all that much. And that was terrifying. Something about this brat got under his skin. Something made him question his preconceptions that had been so solid. But the moment those green-blue eyes sparkled at him, his resolve started to crumble. What the fuck was this idiot doing to him? What did this mean? He couldn’t possibly actually care about the kid. Could he?

 

Well shit.

 

Levi clamped his mouth shut, just now realising it had been hanging open slightly since Eren had stopped talking. He schooled his expression into his mask of indifference, “Well I guess that explains why you’re in the business.”

 

Eren smiled at him sadly, “That’s part of it, yeah.”

 

Levi had to force himself to keep his eyebrow from raising in question. He really didn’t need anymore of Eren’s life story. He’s already filled his emotional quota. With lack of anything better to do, he finally turned around and busied himself making coffee. He avoided looking at Eren’s wistful expression, worried of what it would do to him. His fingers curled around the edge of the little table the coffee maker sat on and clutched for all he was worth. Only when the coffee was done and he had heard Eren get up and head to the bathroom, did he deem it safe to turn around. He grabbed his book and perched himself on the couch, hiding behind his book while he sipped his coffee. He reached into his pocket for his phone.

 

**To: Erwin Smith**

**05:23**

_I really fucking hate you._

 

\--

 

When Eren came out from the bathroom, Levi was lounging on the couch, one leg tucked under himself with the other hanging off the edge, smoldering cigarette hanging from his fingers. He didn't even spare him a glance from his book while Eren busied himself with checking his computer.

 

The air in the room was electric with awkward tension. Eren wasn't sure what he had expected when he chose to tell Levi about his dream. It obviously made him uncomfortable. Despite Levi's passive face, his eyes screamed discomfort and a desire to flee while he spoke. But Eren felt this odd sense of trusting camaraderie between them. And this urge to explain himself.

 

It had made Eren nearly as uncomfortable as Levi to share that personal story. He's spent the last fifteen years of his life keeping it to himself and not trusting anyone. Levi was an anomaly. Maybe it was just because he had saved his life, but Eren felt he could trust Levi and that he had a right to know.

 

Eren braved a furtive glance toward the couch and froze, eyes wide. Levi was watching him. Eren could only see his narrow eyes from over the top of his book, but they were focused intently on him. He wanted to shrink behind his computer screen, but he couldn’t seem to look away. So they just watched each other.

 

After several moments, Levi looked like he was about to say something, but Eren blurted instead, “Am I good to go back in my room yet?”

 

Levi looked perplexed, his eyebrow raising slightly in question as he lowered his book. Eren was sure Levi tried to keep emotion off his features, and for most people it undoubtedly worked, but Eren had figured out some of the nuances to his expressions and learned to read the subtle shifts his features made. Because of this, Eren was also able to perceive the odd additional emotion pulling the corners of Levi’s mouth down–hurt.

 

Levi finally looked down at his watch, expression hardened, “Should be all set, according to Erwin.”

 

“Ok, I’ll get out of your hair then. When do you want—”’ Eren was cut off by the vibration of his phone in his pocket. He pulled it out and his eyebrows furrowed deeply as he read the message.

 

**From: Armin Arlert**

**06:10**

_Can you be ready to go tonight?_

 

“You look constipated as shit.”

 

“Armin wants us to be ready to go tonight.”

 

“Fine.” Eren snapped his head up from his phone to look at Levi. He was finishing off his cigarette and crushing the butt into an ashtray, no longer looking in Eren’s direction. His demeanor had done a complete shift and he was cool and back to his regular personality, the tension from earlier having entirely dissolved.

 

“Are we ready?”

 

“We have to be.” Levi got up and started walking to the door. On his way he picked up Eren’s duffle bag and threw it back to his feet. “Get your shit, your room has a better view.”

 

Eren stared after Levi before shaking his head and sending an affirmative back to Armin before shoving his belongings into the duffle and following after Levi. He went to reach into his bag for his keycard but heard the door click open before he got very far. “You stole my room key?” Levi only glared at him. His phone vibrated again.

 

**From: Armin Arlert**

**06:14**

_Check your email._

 

Eren crossed into the room after Levi and immediately set to getting his laptop out while Levi went over to the window. Once into his email, he found a message from Armin.

 

_Eren,_

_Erwin and I set it up so Dawk will be conveniently held up quite late at the office tonight. This needs to be done cleanly and preferably to appear as an accident or suicide. I know how you are. Try to have some self control._

_Armin_

 

Eren would be angry at the dig if it wasn’t entirely accurate. He tended to go in with a half-formed plan that flew out the window the second anything happened. Mikasa was constantly keeping him in check and Armin was always cleaning up the messes he left behind. The fact that this job actually required some finesse made it that much harder for Eren, but he’d never been one to back down from a challenge and was determined to a fault.

 

“Armin and Erwin set it up for Dawk to stay late tonight. It needs to look like an accident or suicide. From my surveillance, everyone else that isn’t nightwatch and janitorial is gone by 1900, but we should probably wait till quite a bit later. Suggestions?” Eren forced himself to keep his eyes on his computer screen, but heard Levi shift and felt his eyes on him.

 

“You didn’t already have a plan?” Eren looked over at him. “I can tell by the empty stare I’m getting that you don’t. I should have known.” He sighed. “Poison is simple, but usually too traceable and leaves too many things up to chance. Guns are messy and who commits suicide by gun in their office? Hanging could work but he’d need to be subdued, which could raise suspicion after the fact. Forget staging cutting, that shit is gross. So that pretty much eliminates staged suicide as an option. That leaves us with an accident. Except that it is pretty hard to die accidentally in a fucking office.”

 

Clearly Levi did not have the problem Eren did with planning. Eren wracked his brain for something, anything, to contribute. “Falling or jumping would be pretty easy to believe with that building.” Levi looked at him with something akin to shock. “What?”

 

“That… is actually a good idea. Come here.”

 

Eren’s face screwed up at the implied insult but got up and joined Levi to look out the window, directly into the office they planned to infiltrate. “I know some of the other windows in the building can open, that’s how I got in, but his are bigger and look different so I’m not sure about them. They also probably have reinforced glass.” Levi glanced over at Eren before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. “Erwin, how much do we know about the windows? In Sina Corp., dumbass. Yes. What about his office? Do they open?” Levi listened for a bit longer before ending the call. “I was right about the glass, reinforced and bulletproof. Not surprising, especially if he knows he has enemies. But they do open. An accident would be pretty easy to stage.”

 

They left the window to work out all the details on the couch.

 

\--

 

The lobby was dark and silent. A security guard sat at a desk in the corner, his face lit up by the monitors he wasn’t bothering to check. Even with his face boredly glancing through a magazine, he noticed the man walk in. “Hey, it’s after hours, what are you doing here?”

 

“Just forgot something in my office,” the man replied. The guard didn’t spare a second glance as the man continued to the elevator.

 

\--

 

Eren’s heart hammered while the elevator took him up. At the twelfth floor, the doors opened. Turn right. Third left. Fifth door on the right. He pushed the doorknob down with as little pressure as he could, and was met with resistance. Locked. He’d been expecting that. He reached into his pocket, retrieving a blank index card, and slid it underneath the door. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eig—a soft click and the door opened. A hand reached out, grabbed him by the wrist, and pulled him into the office. He found himself face to face with Levi.

 

Levi held a finger up for silence, then a moments later tapped his chest: two long, one short, pause, one short, one long, one short, pause, one short, pause, one short, pause, one long, one short. A voice quietly came to life from the earpiece Eren wore in his right ear. Erwin told them they were all set to proceed, monitoring all of the feeds from Levi and Eren’s planted cameras. They nodded to each other and moved to leave. Levi’s hand fell from Eren’s wrist, not realising it had still been there until it was removed.

 

The quiet trip through the offices was easy. There was only one janitor in the building, and he was down on the lower floors, so he was never a problem. The security in the building was minimal except for the CEO’s floor, so cameras were easy to circumvent. To maintain silence and avoid any possible logs the building may have had, they opted for the stairs. The climb to the fifteenth floor was hardly strenuous. This was where they had to start being careful though. The second security guard made rounds on this floor. Erwin’s only eyes on the floor were from Eren’s camera in front of Dawk’s door, so he couldn’t be much help to them. This was all on their skills.

 

Silently, and achingly slowly, Levi pushed the door of the stairwell open just a crack. He peered through the opening and listened for several long moments. All Eren could hear was the beat of his own heart and his quiet breaths. Finally, Levi pushed the door open just enough for them to slip through before quickly slipping into the open break room opposite the stairwell.

 

The room was dark, the lights having been shut off hours before when most employees left. The door was left open and gave them a wonderful view of the partial hallway the room was in. Eren mentally mapped out their location relative to their objective. Dawk’s office was on the other side of the floor, in the corner of the building. The floor was lined with offices on the outside, with a hallway wrapping in a large circle connecting them. On the other side of the hallway were smaller offices and in the center of the floor were conference rooms, bathrooms, and break rooms like the one they were in now. The most direct path to Dawk’s office would involve walking through a lounge area and down a hallway which led directly to the corner in which the office sat. But that would leave them out in the open for too long. Instead, they would maneuver around by going through open rooms and avoiding the hallways as much as possible. Unfortunately, the design of the building meant that they couldn’t stay out of the hallways completely.

 

Their first objective was to make it to the small receiving room at the end of the small hall just around the corner. It would only be one left turn then straight down the hall, passed the elevators. But that was one of the most monitored areas. They had to avoid security cameras and the guard walking around. the cameras were simple by comparison, their viewpoints memorised far in advanced.The guard was more difficult. By the camera in front of Dawk’s office, she was inconsistent at best. Passing by his office on no discernable schedule, she was unpredictable, an unknown element. Levi was at the door, listening hard for her footsteps while Eren hung back behind him, hidden in case things took a turn for the worse. When Levi was finally satisfied she was nowhere near, they crept out and headed toward the receiving room.

 

It was a small room with a couch, some plush leather chairs and a coffee table for guest waiting for a meeting to be received. The advantage to the small room was the second doorway, leading out to the hallway on the outside of the floor. The hallway would be a challenge. It would be 54 feet, a right turn, and 12 more feet before they made it into the supply room that was their next goal. They again laid in wait much as before, until Levi was satisfied with the silence and ready to lead them through the shadowed hall toward the supply room.

 

The supply room was narrow and lined with shelves containing every office supply you could think of. But they only stayed a few moments before exiting out the opposite door and walking through a short hallway and ducking into a conference room nearby. After walking into the deepest corner of the room, they finally let their silence fall to slight whispers, regrouping. The conference room door was about 40 feet from Dawk’s office door.

 

“Ready?” Levi breathed into Eren’s ear, the sound barely reaching him. Eren nodded, not willing to risk his voice. They made their way back to the doorway to wait for the guard’s passing again. Long minutes stretched by. Eren glanced at his watch, 2346. Erwin was silent in their ears, not that he would have much to say, since he had no eyes on their position. Finally, Levi pulled him out and they walked to the corner office, testing the doorknob and finding it unlocked.

 

Eren slipped in first. Dressed as an employee, it was a much easier to explain his presence in the room. But Dawk was standing at the window, staring out. Eren opened the door a bit wider, letting Levi know he should come in as well. Dawk had made this simple. Levi already had the plastic sheet stretched in his hands. He silently crept up behind Dawk, hands ready to pull the plastic over Dawk’s face, blocking his air and rendering him incapacitated. It would have been perfect.

 

The glint in the window’s reflection was noticed too late. Eren saw it when Levi was but a hair’s breath away. Eren’s hand flew to his side for the knife he had hidden under his suit, but he knew there wasn’t enough time for that. He made a sound of warning, sacrificing their surprise which was clearly compromised anyway. Dawk whirled around, gun in hand. Levi and Eren both froze.

 

“I knew you’d be coming. Although I was not expecting two.” Dawk looked every bit the powerful CEO, cool, calm, collected. But his eyes gave him up. He was terrified. A frightened animal. He knew he wouldn’t be leaving this room alive, and because of that he had nothing to lose.

 

They all stared back at one another, Eren and Levi’s eyes trained on Dawk while Dawk’s eyes shifted between them, but lingering on Eren. There was tension, all of them waiting for someone to make the first move. Eren didn’t know if it was seconds or minutes that passed this way. His muscles were stiff and tense, ready for anything.

 

Erwin’s voice whispered in their ears, “The guard hasn’t passed the camera in thirty minutes. She’s not there.”

 

And all at once, the silent tension was broken. Levi sidestepped so he was once again behind Dawk while Dawk’s hand raised the gun to point at Eren, who was reaching for his knife. In the next breath, Levi had the plastic clamped to Dawk’s face. Dawk’s eyes were wild as he used his last moments of coherent thought to pull the trigger.

 

The pain dropped him. The bullet moved through his hip in what seemed like slow motion. He could feel the path, his skin ripping apart. Then it tore across the crest of his hipbone with excruciating pain. He was on the floor without knowing how he ended up there, but he had to imagine it had to do with the pain radiating from his pelvis, traversing through every limb. It was by sheer force of will that he didn’t just pass out right then. As it was, his eyes crossed and the room swam. He couldn’t see the other occupants as they struggled. He couldn’t even hear, the only sound was screaming. It wasn’t until his throat was raw that he realised it had been his own.

 

His mind cleared infinitesimally and he could hear Erwin giving instructions, his voice calm despite the obvious distress happening in the room. He felt hands press down and the pain shot through his body renewed again, but he was incapable of screaming anymore, only crying hoarsely. He heard another voice.

 

“Eren. Eren listen to me. Stop. We’ll get you out of here. You’re going to be fine.” Levi’s voice seemed to be the only thing to break through the fog of pain in any coherent manner. Eren swallowed painfully, willing himself to shut up. He bit at his hand under his thumb in an effort to keep from screaming again when the pressure on the wound increased. He nodded.

 

Levi grabbed Eren’s left hand, which wasn’t being bitten to pieces, and replaced his own with it over the wound, "Keep pressure, we can't have you bleeding out before we get help." He held his hand over Eren's, making sure he was pressing hard enough. Just as Eren was relaxing his jaw on his hand since the pain had become manageable again, Levi spoke again, "This is going to fucking hurt, kid. Try to keep it down."

 

Eren tightened his jaw on his hands in preparation, but nothing could have possibly prepared him for this. Levi’s hands scooped under him and lifted him bridal style. The pain of being shot magnified, all of his nerves alight with the pain originating from the hole in his hip. He just barely managed to remember to keep pressure while he tasted the blood from breaking the skin of his hand. He felt Levi shift and another wave of pain burned through him. Later, he would be disappointed that he missed the exhilaration of flying through the air, the freedom of it. But now, all he could think about was the pain and the taste of his own blood in his mouth as he tried to keep from crying out. He was only vaguely aware of the glass breaking around them and they flew through the stairwell window of the hotel. It could have been seconds or hours later when Levi dug through his pockets for his room key. He might have felt himself being placed gently onto something soft and the whisper or fingers in his hair and a distant voice before everything went black.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh, don't kill me because I did another cliff hanger. Next chapter is gonna be great because we have a new character I'm very very excited about. Let me know what you thought of the chapter!


	5. Sick to My Shoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So how long have you been doing this?” Finished with physical therapy, Eren was preparing what little belongings he had so he could move into the apartment Armin had found for him.
> 
> “Longer than you.” Levi was watching him get ready, and when Eren spoke he looked amused.
> 
> “I made my first kill when I was nine, that was sixteen years ago.”
> 
> “Like I said, longer than you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Saturday again! This update makes me happy and there's a new character! I hope you guys like it as much as I do.
> 
> As always, millions of thanks to [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com) for being inspiration when I hit a block and making sure I can English.
> 
> If you guys have any question, want to talk about the story, or just want to chat, I've got a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com) and I have soooo much to say about things I can't put in the story.

The first thing Eren was aware of when he opened his eyes were a pair of large, light brown eyes behind round, frameless glasses staring at him. For a few seconds, he couldn’t even bring himself to find this strange, but then his mind started working and he realised he did not know anyone with brown eyes or anyone that wore glasses. His whole body jerked in surprise when he registered the fact that this was a stranger and they were far too close to him.

 

“Back off, shitty-glasses. You’re scaring him.” Levi’s voice so calm from somewhere nearby made him instantly relax. If Levi was there and calm, then there couldn’t be any danger.

 

The eyes were suddenly farther back away from his face and he could see the person they belonged to. Sitting next to him was a person with messy brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, with chunks falling to frame their face. They had on a white lab coat with a stethoscope around their neck. Eren’s best guess was that this was a doctor of some kind, but he couldn’t imagine why there would be a doctor. Unless Levi was—

 

The events of their assassination came flooding back. He remembered Dawk expecting them. He raised his gun. The bullet found it’s mark, but slightly off course. The pain. His hand flew to his hip and he felt bandages there.

 

“Ah, he remembers, good. Tell me Eren, what did it feel like? I want to know everything!” The mystery person was speaking so fast that Eren could barely keep up. He glanced over to where he had heard Levi’s voice in the corner of the room where he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and met his eyes, almost pleading.

 

“Leave him alone, Hanji.”

 

“Awww,” they dragged the sound out while they faced Levi, “but this is fascinating. It’s amazing he didn’t pass out from the pain sooner. And he’s healing so fast! Eren, would you let me run some tests?” They turned back to him at the statement, looking manic and pleading.

 

“Uhh,” his throat felt unused and hoarse, “Where are we?” It was all he could come up with to say.

 

“Oh! You’re in a hospital. My hospital, actually. You’re very lucky, that shot was clearly meant to be more fatal. And you still could have bled out. Good thing Levi here brought you in!”

 

Eren was trying to remember what happened after he got shot. He remembered the excruciating pain and the sensation of flying. Then he remembered softness and nothing. “Why doesn’t it hurt?”

 

“You’ve got enough morphine pumping through you to down an elephant. It’s actually pretty surprising that you’re even awake. This is why you’d be a worthy test subject, your healing is tremendously fascinating. If you’d allow, I’d love to take some—”

 

“Hanji,” Levi spoke in a tone that left no room for ambiguity.

 

Eren’s brow furrowed. He still wasn’t totally sure what exactly was going on. He remembered being shot. He remembered Levi carrying him out of the office. And he vaguely remembered being back in the hotel. He had no recollection of being moved, much less to a hospital. “How long have I been out?” He feared the answer.

 

“About a day and a half.” It was Levi that answered him, still in the corner of the room.

 

“Shit.”

 

Levi looked something other than calm and indifferent for the first time since he woke up. His brows furrowed in confusion. “What?”

 

“Mikasa.” It was all he had to say. Even with the little bit they had talked about her, Levi understood and winced when he heard the name. “She’s probably already trying to convince Armin that she can get here. Where is here?”

 

“Trost Mercy Hospital,” the stranger, Hanji apparently, replied as Levi crossed the room and dug through a bag in a chair. Moments later, Eren’s phone was tossed unceremoniously in his lap.

 

“Come on, Hanji, he doesn’t need you breathing down his neck while he talks to his sister.” Levi grabbed them by the hair and yanked them out of the room.

 

Eren stared down at the phone in his lap, not wanting to make the call he knew he had to. Mikasa would be enraged. He glanced through his call history and saw a smattering of missed calls, but they were less than he had expected. Armin was probably trying to keep her off of him. He sighed heavily and pressed the return call button.

 

The ringtone didn’t even get to complete a full ring, “Eren!”

 

“Hi, Mikasa.”

 

“What happened? I’ve been trying to reach you. Armin said something went wrong. If that asshole you’re with did something…” She was frantic in his ear, he could tell she was half a step away from coming to find him.

 

“I got shot.”

 

“Are you alright? Who’s taking care of you. Where are you?”

 

“Mikasa. I’m fine. Calm down. Doesn’t even hurt,” he didn’t mention that was because of the obscene amount of drugs coursing through him. “Someone named Hanji has been taking care of me, Levi knows them. I’m in a hospital and I’m going to be fine. Comes with the territory. You know that better than I do.”

 

He could almost hear Mikasa pointed stare when he alluded to the injury which was keeping her away from him. “I wish I was there.” Her quiet reply made Eren wince. He knew she cared, she was his sister, after all. She just wanted to protect him.

 

“I’m fine. I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. But the job is done. I think. So I’ll be home soon and we can sit down and watch shitty movies over pizza together.”

 

She made a noise of disgust into the phone, but Eren knew she was smiling. “I’m picking the movies.”

 

Eren smiled, “Sure. We’ll get Armin to join, too. But I need to go now. I’ll keep in touch.”

 

“Bye, Eren.” She ended the call and he went to send a text to Armin to let him know he was alright. When he looked up, Levi was back in the room.

 

“You’re too quiet.”

 

Levi scoffed at him, “You aren’t quiet enough. How did she take it?”

 

“About as well as could be expected when she didn’t hear from me for over a day after a job. She’ll be happy to get me home. Speaking of, when will that be?”

 

Levi looked pained, “That’s a better question for Hanji.” Eren studied his features as the mask of indifference returned to his face.

 

Something else was clearly on Levi’s mind. “What aren’t you telling me?” Eren’s phone vibrated in his lap, but he kept his eyes trained on Levi.

 

Levi looked down to the now lit screen of Eren’s phone, avoiding eye contact. “Nothing that your friend there won’t tell you.”

 

At this, Eren finally looked down, seeing Armin had replied to him.

 

**From: Armin Arlert**

**10:46**

_I heard. Glad you’re feeling alright. There’s a bit of a problem._

 

Eren frowned and looked up at Levi. He just gave a small shrug and continued watching him.

 

**To: Armin Arlert**

**10:47**

_What’s wrong?_

 

Eren tapped his thumb on his phone as he waited for a reply. He was getting nervous now.

 

**From: Armin Arlert**

**10:49**

_A gunshot in a corporate office right before the CEO appears to have committed suicide by jumping out the window was too suspicious. Not to mention the screaming. The mess is harder to clean up than expected. You and Levi are going to have to lay low for a while. That means you won’t be able to come home._

Eren read the message several times before he could bring himself to believe it. Mikasa would be upset. He would have to spend even more time away from home. And Levi too. This was his fault, he was the reason the trigger was even pulled. If it had just been Levi, Dawk would be getting scraped off the sidewalk and no one would be the wiser.

 

**To: Armin Arlert**

**10:53**

_Where?_

 

It was the only relevant question that could get passed his thoughts. He kept his eyes on his phone, not willing to meet Levi’s eyes. It was his fault that Levi wouldn’t be able to go home.

 

**From: Armin Arlert**

**10:54**

_Erwin and I found an apartment on the edge of town. You’ll be close, but you can’t go home. You’d be putting Mikasa in danger if you did. I’ll tell her._

 

At least he could be glad for that. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Mikasa he wasn’t coming home. She’ll be really upset. He hoped he’d at least be able to see her at some point soon, even if only for a short time. “I’m sorry.”

 

Eren didn’t look up to see Levi’s reaction. “What the hell are you apologising for, kid?”

 

“It’s my fault you can’t go home.” Finally, he looked up. Levi was looking at him with a strange expression of incredulity with a softness around the edges.

 

“It’s not your fault, kid. Plus, I don’t have much of a home to go to anyway.”

 

“If I hadn’t been there, Dawk wouldn’t have had time to pull the gun!”

 

“You don’t know that.” Levi looked wistful now as he looked down. “We both made decisions. You just have to make the ones that you think you will regret the least later. That’s all we can ever do.”

 

Silence fell. Eren looked down at his lap again to process everything that had happened since he woke up. He couldn’t wrap his brain around the fact that he wouldn’t be going back to his and Mikasa’s apartment when he was healed. The thought of spending an indeterminate time in an unfamiliar apartment alone made him uncomfortable. He’d never lived alone in his life. Once his mother died and father left, he and Mikasa had been living together. This job is the first time he’d ever spent more than 24 hours by himself.

 

He heard the door open and Hanji reappeared. The awkward tension was palpable and it was clear the Hanji could sense it. Desperate to break the silence, Eren went for a question that had been bugging him for a while now, “Are you male or female?”

 

Suddenly two sets of eyes were staring at him. Levi’s face was unmasked surprise, eyes wide and brow furrowed. Hanji’s face looked almost impressed. Eren’s eyes searched Hanji’s and was about to look away, resigned that he had asked a stupid an inappropriate question, when they answered, “Neither, actually. I identify as agender, it’s actually really nice of you to ask. If you wouldn’t mind avoiding male and female pronouns, that would be fantastic.” They smiled, bright and enthusiastic, as if Eren hadn’t just asked what had to have been the weirdest question.

 

“Um, sure.”

 

“Great! Now, I’m sure you’re wondering when you can get out of here. Usually, I’d say we should keep you here for a week or so. The fact that the bullet grazed your pelvis makes this an even stronger suggestion. However, Levi is impatient and you’re healing much faster than expected. So if you can get up and walk around the room, you can leave the day after tomorrow.”

 

Eren tore off the thin blanket that was draped over him as soon as Hanji had finished talking. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and paused, feeling a dull pain hidden below massive quantities of painkillers. He gritted his teeth and stood, determined not to sway or fall. Hanji watched him with a raptor’s gaze, catching his every movement. He took his first few steps tentatively, locking his jaw in determination. Those steps reminded him of the blinding pain from when he got shot, even though it was much duller. But after the first few steps, the pain faded to the background and he made it around the room without too much trouble.

 

“Fantastic! I’ll start weaning you off the pain meds and you’ll be all set. Give me your phone.”

 

“What? Why?” Eren said as he carefully eased himself back onto the bed.

 

“Because I’m letting you go early against my better judgement which means you need to check in with me frequently to update me on your healing process. Expect several months before you’re back to one hundred percent, but if you’re anything like Levi, here,” they patted Levi on the back while he looked grumpily back, “then you’ll go back to work before that happens. I’m not going to stop you unless it will sacrifice your healing, but I do need to know how you’re doing.” They held their hand out to him. Eren handed over his phone. “Alright, you’ve got my number and,” a buzzing came from their pocket, “now I’ve got yours. Excellent.”

 

“So, what happens now?”

 

“You go through my super expedited physical therapy regimen until you leave. But for right now, you should get some rest.” Without waiting for a response, Hanji spun around and left.

 

\--

 

“So how long have you been doing this?” Finished with physical therapy, Eren was preparing what little belongings he had so he could move into the apartment Armin had found for him.

 

“Longer than you.” Levi was watching him get ready, and when Eren spoke he looked amused.

 

“I made my first kill when I was nine, that was sixteen years ago.”

 

“Like I said, longer than you.”

 

This had become a sort of game to them. Well, to Eren at least. He had no idea how Levi saw it, though he was still doing it, so he guessed he must not totally hate it. Out of boredom of sitting around for the last two days, Eren had begun asking little personal tidbits about Levi. Most of the time, he got brushed off with some flippant answer or just a flat out no. On very rare occasions, though, Levi would offer up an answer. So far he’d learned that Levi lived alone, had an obsession with cleanliness, considered Hanji his best friend, he prefered black tea to coffee, and he hated working with people. Although that last one was more of an inference than something Levi had told him.

 

“Why do you wear that, that thing?” Ere made a vague hand gesture toward Levi’s neck.

 

“It’s called a cravat.”

 

“Okay, why do you wear it?”

 

He shrugged, “I like it.”

 

“Wow, that’s the most amicable thing you’ve said about anything, should I be jealous?”

 

“You’re going to shit yourself because I like my cravat better than you?” Levi smirked. Maybe he did enjoy their game.

 

“So you admit it! You do like it better than me!”

 

“Don’t feel bad, kid, I like it better than all people.”

 

Eren smiled big, as if Levi had just told him he liked him. In a sense, maybe he had. He at least hadn’t said that he didn’t like him. “Ok, all set.”

 

“Finally, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

 

“I thought you liked Hanji.”

 

“Just because I can tolerate them does not mean I want to stay in this goddamn hospital anymore.”

 

“Sorry.” Eren looked down as he picked up his bag, heading toward the door.

 

Levi grabbed his wrist, spinning him to face him. “Damnit, brat, quit apologising. It’s not your fault.”

 

“But—”

 

“No,” he growled. “It is not your fault. And it’s over. Stop blaming yourself.”

 

Eren searched Levi’s eyes, not sure what to say. Finally, he just nodded and Levi dropped his wrist and walked out of the room, Eren following close behind.

 

\--

 

“Is this your car?” Eren said when Levi opened the door to a dark blue Subaru Legacy. Levi nodded as he got in. When Eren slid into the passenger side, throwing his bag into the back seat, he spoke again, “I would have expected something…” Levi quirked his eyebrow, urging him to finish the thought, “I guess, less normal? This is such an ordinary car.”

 

Levi’s glare made him shrink back in his seat, “I’m not trying to be conspicuous. I guess it works, you don’t expect a trained killer to be driving a blue sedan.”

 

Eren looked forward as Levi pulled out of the parking lot and lost himself in the silence for a bit. He imagined the apartment he was headed toward. He wondered how he would spend his time over the next couple months while his hip healed. Maybe he should think about getting a playstation or something. He had plenty of savings to support himself without working, but maybe he could find a job to keep him occupied.

 

Eren was jostled out of his musings when music started playing from the car stereo. He vaguely recognized the deep tones of cellos playing in a heavy beat. “Apocalyptica, really?” Levi glanced at him, but otherwise showed no signs of response. “You are full of surprises.”

 

About forty-five minutes later, Levi was opening the door to a seventh floor apartment in Karanese Apartments. Eren’s first views were of the dining area. After circumventing a short wall on the left, Eren found the kitchen, a large area with an “L” shaped island separating it from the dining area. The dining area sat behind the living area, which contained a loveseat couch, a sectional, a coffee table, and a decent sized television mounted on the hallway wall.

 

Turning right from the entrance led Eren down a short hallway with a door at the end and another to the right. He opened the one on the right first, glancing into the sizable bathroom, before closing it and heading through the last door. He found himself in the bedroom, a simple room furnished only with a bed and two nightstands. He could see a sliding door to the right which led back into the bathroom and a door to the left which undoubtedly led to a closet. He set his bag down on the foot of the bed and went back out to the living room.

 

When he came out, Eren found Levi knelt down in front of the oven and the smell of bleach in the air. “What are you doing?”

 

Levi turned to face him, a white handkerchief tied around his face, covering his nose and mouth. “Cleaning, this place is fucking filthy.” Levi turned back to his scrubbing.

 

“Okay, but why?”

 

Levi sighed heavily, dropped his rag, and stood, “Because I’m not about to live somewhere with this much dirt everywhere. Grab a rag and do the surfaces.”

 

Eren gaped at him. “Wait, what? I thought I was living here alone. You’re staying here too?”

 

“Yes.” Levi threw another rag at him and knelt back down, clearly finished with their discussion. Eren stood there dumbly for a few seconds, staring at the back of Levi’s head, before shaking his head and going to wipe down the dining table.

 

An hour and a half later, Eren proclaimed himself done.

 

“You call this clean? Do it again.” Eren almost tried to protest, but Levi’s glare sent him back to redo what he had done before.

 

Two more hours passed and the whole apartment was sparkling. Eren collapsed onto the sectional and propped up his injured leg, hissing in pain from the increased activity. After changing, Levi appeared around the wall, leaning against it.

 

“It’s late, are you coming to bed?”

 

“I figured I’d sleep out here, you can have the bed.”

 

Levi’s brow furrowed, “You’re injured, you’re sleeping in the bed. Get up.”

  
Eren turned his head, sighed, and got up and followed Levi to the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting really close to some stuff happening relationship wise. Sorry about the slow build if you aren't into that. It wasn't really my original intention, but the characters are stubborn little shits, so it took them a while. Stay tuned!


	6. A Mountain of Maybes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I can’t take this anymore. I’m so bored!” Eren flopped down bodily onto the sectional.
> 
> Levi was lounging on the loveseat, wearing his glasses and deep in another book. “Then do something. Read a book, watch a movie, play solitaire. Whatever you do, just do it quietly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! So updated update schedule: I'll be updating Saturdays and Tuesdays, so twice a week now. I'm almost done writing the very last chapter, so I figured I can let you guys have them a little faster. Plus, I'm going to be attempting NaNoWriMo this year and I'd like this to be out by then so I can focus on that.
> 
> Also, I have 94 kudos on this last I checked which is fucking insane. Thank you guys so so so much, I'm seriously in awe that people like this. So, if I make it to 100 before the next update, I'll attempt to draw something to go with the next chapter as suggested by the wonderful and lovely [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com), who I love dearly and gives me all the best ideas.
> 
> Anyway, that should be it from me, enjoy the domestic sorta fluff.
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com).

After a week living together, Eren had come to the realisation that Levi did not cook.

“Let’s get some groceries and cook something, instead of ordering in all the time. I need some real food.” Eren was looking through cabinets and the fridge, trying to see if they had anything he could put together to eat.

“What we order doesn’t qualify as real food?” Levi was in the living room, organising the meager DVD collection they had formed.

“No, plus I’m sick of it. Don’t you ever want a home-cooked meal?”

“No.”

Eren whipped around and looked at the back of Levi’s head incredulously. “Why?”

“I don’t cook.”

Eren cocked his head in question, then his mouth dropped open into a little ‘o’ shape, “You don’t know how to cook!” Levi turned his head and gave him a withering look, but did not deny the accusation. “Come on, let’s get some groceries. I’ll teach you.”

An hour later, they were in the kitchen with several bags from the local grocery store.

“So this is a really easy German dish. My mom used to make it for us all the time.” He smiled at the memory of helping his mom prepare the gravy. “You’re going to put together the gravy, I’ll do the pork. Cut up the onion.”

Levi pulled out a knife and cutting board and did as he was told. Eren quickly mixed breadcrumbs and flour into a bowl and whisked an egg into another bowl before turning to Levi. “You kill people for a living, how do you not know how to use a knife?”

Levi glared at him, “I can ensure you there are more than twenty ways I could kill you with this knife without moving from this spot.”

“Okay, well the onion isn’t someone’s head, so stop stabbing at it. And peel it first! Then cut off the ends and cut it into slices. Then, dice it. You really don’t know how to do this at all, don’t you?”

While Eren was talking, Levi was attempting to replicate his instructions but was still struggling. “How do you keep it from slipping all over the goddamn place?” Levi tried again to cut off the end of the onion, almost succeeding in cutting the end of his finger off when the blade slipped down the side instead of biting the flesh of the vegetable.

“Here,” Eren held out his hand and Levi relinquished the knife, “If you cut it in half first, it helps keep the onion stable so you’re less likely to have it move, which gives you more control.” Eren made quick work of dicing and gathered the small squares into a warmed skillet with oil. “Can you use a can opener at least?”

Levi huffed and grabbed the can of sliced mushrooms off the table more violently than necessary. He poured the mushrooms into the skillet with the onions.

“Alright, watch those until they are lightly browned, then add a cup and a half of water and a bouillon cube.” Eren started coating the pork cutlets in egg and then the breading mixture. When he had four coated cutlets he moved over to stand next to Levi at the stove, but what he found there alarmed him. “What the hell! You’re gonna burn the place down.”

Eren quickly turned off the burner and lifted the pan away, moving to the trash to dump its contents. Levi stood there mute and with wide eyes. When Eren turned back to him with an empty pan, he was met with more emotion than he’d ever seen before. “I’m going to go read.” With that, Levi’s face went into an indifferent mask and he left, walking into the bedroom.

\--

“Levi?” Eren balanced a tray on his uninjured hip and knocked softly before easing the door open. Levi was sitting on the bed, knees pulled up, with a book propped on his legs. Thick rimmed glasses perched low on his nose. He used one finger to push them back up. Eren placed a plate on his nightstand before taking the tray to his own side, sitting up on the bed next to Levi, and starting in on his own plate. “Dinner’s ready.”

Levi flicked his eyes to Eren quickly before glancing at the plate Eren had left for him. He replaced a bookmark in his book and picked up the plate. Levi looked over the food piled on, two fried pork cutlets smothered in gravy. Eren stopped eating while he watched Levi take his first bite. “How is it?”

“It’s… great. You never told me what it was called.”

Eren felt his cheeks heat up and answered at barely over a whisper, “Jagerschnitzel.”

For the first time since he walked in the room, Levi actually looked at him, “Are you fucking serious.” It wasn’t a question. He turned his attention back to his food, “Where did you learn to cook like this?”

Eren smiled, thinking of the memories, “My mother taught me. I used to always help her in the kitchen. I loved watching her cook, so she let me help sometimes, and taught me what to do.”

Levi watched him while they ate and Eren’s lingering blush deepened. “A-are you alright?”

Levi looked somewhat surprised by the question, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You seemed.... Really upset. When you left. I didn’t mean to make you angry.” Eren’s voice was soft, but he was proud that it didn’t shake.

Levi looked down at his plate for a long time. Eren fidgeted with his fork, pushing around pieces of his meal. He had almost given up on the subject when Levi finally spoke, “You didn’t make me angry.” He paused and Eren thought that was the end of it, but Levi spoke again, very quietly, “ _I_ made me angry.”

Eren could tell he hadn’t meant to say that aloud. Those words weren’t meant for his ears. “Why?” The look of alarm Levi gave him confirmed that he hadn’t meant to speak aloud.

“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head, like he was shaking off the anger. And Eren might have believed he’d been successful, but he was starting to see the nuances in his expression that betrayed his deeper emotions. He chose not to dig, though. “Tell me about her?”

Eren looked back in confusion, “Who?”

“Your mother.”

Eren’s eyes glazed over, thoughts far away, “She was great. Everyone always said I took after her, it made me so happy. I was probably the worst kid to raise, too. I was always getting into fights, coming home bruised and battered. She’d patch me up and not say a word, but somehow, I always ended up telling her what happened. I never figured out how she did that.”

“So you’ve always been a shitty brat.”

Eren scoffed, but then smiled, knowing the joking comment meant Levi was feeling better. He continued, “I remember playing in the laundry when she was trying to hang it up to dry. She never yelled at me for it, just laughed when I would jump out from behind a sheet.” Eren paused, smile sad, “I miss her.”

Levi looked at him like he was trying to analyse him. When he spoke, it was tentative and unsure, a very odd combination coming from his lips, “What happened?”

Eren’s body tensed. He stared at the plate still in his lap, food finished. “She died.” Eren said, setting his plate aside. Levi’s face twisted as if he was about to scoff, but thought better of it. “I came home one day from school, it didn’t feel like anything was wrong. My father was at work, as always. Mikasa and I went about making food. I called for my mom to ask if she wanted anything. When she didn’t answer, I thought she’d been napping. So I made her a sandwich before going up to her room.

“Her door was cracked open. I should have known then that something was wrong, but I just pushed it open, calling for her to get up. She wasn’t moving. I didn’t even see the empty pill bottle on the floor. I shook her, but she wouldn’t open her eyes. It wasn’t until Mikasa pulled me away that I realised I was crying. The cops came sometime after. My father never did.”

Both men were silent for a while. Eren could feel Levi’s eyes on him, knew there was a burning question on the tip of his tongue. He took a deep breath before continuing, “The official story is suicide. To most, that’s exactly what it looked like. But I knew it couldn’t have been. She had no reason to even have those pills, much less take them. The only people who believed me were Armin and Mikasa.”

Eren finished and he felt wetness on his cheeks where tears had fallen silently. He kept his eyes trained on his hands, not wanting to risk looking at Levi and letting him see how much this affected him.

“So that’s why…” Levi’s voice was little more than a whisper.

Eren looked up in surprise and was met with a knowing look in the other man’s eyes. He nodded, “It was Armin’s idea. He got an email about a job that would pay handsomely. I never really got how that request ended up in the inbox of a child, probably a mistake on the part of the sender. But he asked about it and came to us when the sender revealed that someone needed to be taken care of. Those were the words.  At first I was furious, he knew about Mikasa’s parents and what we’d done. But when he explained that it could help us get to my mom’s murderer, I thought about it.” Levi’s expression was a question. Eren knew exactly what he wanted to know. “We still haven’t found them. Armin has a file on his computer with all of the information we have. It’s not very big.”

They were quiet again. It seemed to be the way both of them processed information, sitting in silence. Eren had always found actions easier to understand and use than words. That was why he was always in fights‒he wasn’t able to talk his way out of anything; that was Armin’s strength. He could tell Levi wasn’t good with people, much less words. He didn’t really seem to be great with emotions either. Eren felt bad for imposing all his emotion on him for a second time. Even if he had been the one to ask.

Eren saw Levi’s hand move toward him and hover by his thigh. His eyes widened when he realised what he was trying to do. The hand stayed for several seconds before he clenched his fist and withdrew it. “I’m sorry.”

Eren turned his surprised stare to meet with Levi’s eyes. He looked angry or frustrated or something. He couldn’t place it exactly, but he could tell it wasn’t directed to him. Eren smiled, wide and genuine. “Hey, I cooked so you can clean. I know how much you like it anyway.” He laughed.

“Tch,” Levi glared at him as Eren passed his plate over, the heaviness of their conversation evaporating into near nothingness.

\--

Two weeks into their stay and Eren was absolutely batshit crazy.

“I can’t take this anymore. I’m so bored!” Eren flopped down bodily onto the sectional.

Levi was lounging on the loveseat, wearing his glasses and deep in another book. “Then do something. Read a book, watch a movie, play solitaire. Whatever you do, just do it quietly.”

“I don’t want to do any of those things. They’re all boring,” Eren was whining unabashedly now.

“Figure something out, just do it quietly and let me read.”

Eren lifted his head to look over at Levi, “What are you reading?”

“Is that what you call quietly? It’s called _Faith of the Fallen_.”

“What’s it about?”

Levi sighed heavily, placing a bookmark and closing his book. “What is it going to take to get you to be quiet? Or go somewhere else.”

“Find me something to dooooo.” He dragged out the last vowel, acting every part the obnoxious teenager.

“I’m not your keeper, find something yourself.”

Eren was quiet for a bit, contemplating his options again. “Let’s go shopping, I have an idea.”

“Go yourself.” He opened his book again and appeared to be done with the conversation.

Eren looked at him for a second before getting up, grabbing the keys from a dish on the island in the kitchen and leaving.

He returned thirty minutes later with a huge bag from Gamestop. Levi was still curled up on the couch, still reading. Eren dropped off the keys in the dish on his way in before collapsing in front of the TV with his bag. He saw Levi glance at him on his way in, but he seemed not to care what Eren was up to.

The large bag fell away from the box of the Playstation 3 he had purchased. Eren pulled out all the components and looked at the wires. He had absolutely no clue how to get this set up. He plugged the power cord into the wall and found where it connected to on the system. The next cable he picked up was short and he couldn’t figure out where it went, so he put it aside for now. The hdmi cable was pretty simple on the console side, easy fitting into the only slot even remotely shaped that way. Figuring out how that connected to the TV was a bit more complicated, but with some struggling to see behind the mounted television, he managed to connect the cable.

“Oi, what are you doing?” Levi’s voice startled him from his concentration on getting the system set up.

“Been thinking about getting a playstation, finally had a reason to.”

“Being bored is a reason?” Eren just stared back blankly. Levi shook his head, “Don’t break anything.”

Through pure determination, and a bit of stubbornness, Eren managed to get the console running and a game he had bought ready to play. He stood up and walked over to Levi, who looked up at him over the rims of his glasses. “What?”

Eren held out one of the controllers, “This one is for you.”

Levi looked at it like it was some poisonous creature, “No, no way in hell.” He turned his eyes back to the book.

Eren didn’t move and kept his arm extended with the controller held out. He screwed his face into his most innocent expression, making his eyes big and pleading. “Please?”

At first, Levi continued reading, avoiding eye contact. But the second he flicked up his eyes, Eren knew he had him. When Levi looked into his large pleading eyes Eren could see him break down. He sighed and reached out, taking the controller. “This is the only time. Don’t expect me to keep you entertained.”

Eren smiled triumphantly before bounding to the sectional with his own controller and starting the game. The strange music indicative of a Katamari game blasted over the speakers of the television. Eren could feel Levi’s glare, but he didn’t get up, so Eren figured he was safe.

“What the fuck is this?”

“Uh, it’s called Katamari Forever. Basically, you roll stuff up to bring back color to the king’s brain. Or at least that’s what the box says. I’d heard it was fun.”

Levi made a noise, but stayed put. Eren started the game. After a tutorial sequence, they started making their way through the levels. Since he had bought the game used, the multiplayer was already unlocked, so they simply started there. Eren chose co-op rather than versus. He was a sore loser and tended to get violent and figured Levi probably wouldn’t be any better. When they first started, they found it very difficult to work together, their minds seemed to be on completely different wavelengths. Before long, though, they somehow melded into an equilibrium, with Levi leading the charge and Eren following. They didn’t even notice when it started to get dark.

“Left, fucking LEFT! Eren, do you know what left is?”

Eren smirked, pleased with the fact that Levi had gotten absorbed into the game and clearly was enjoying it. Though he never expected to hear that admitted by the man himself. The timer ran out on the stage they had been working on as they rolled up another person and the building he was standing by, earning them a sizable katamari. “Levi, it’s late and I’m starving. I’ll make dinner.”

Levi looked like he was about to protest, but then realized what it meant if he did. “Fine. Do we have pasta?”

“I think so, that sounds good.”

\--

Two days later, Eren was lounging on the sectional while texting Armin when something hard painfully collided with his stomach. He looked up to find Levi standing over him. “What the hell?”

“I’m bored.” And that was the only explanation he got before Levi turned and sat on the loveseat. He looked down at his stomach and found a controller sitting there. He looked back to Levi, finding him fiddling with the other controller, attempting to bring the game up. Eren smiled, sat up, and started up the co-op multiplayer.

\--

Levi was right in the middle of the climax of his book when he was rudely interrupted by erratic knocking at the door. He sighed, tempted to just ignore it. It was probably just Eren trying to come back from his walk because he had forgotten the keys. But he was pretty sure he saw Eren grab them on his way out. Well, now his concentration was well and truly broken, so he gave another heavy sigh and muttered curses under his breath as he went to open the door.

He peeked out the peephole and narrowed his eyes at the visitors, but opened the door, quickly sidestepping the manic person bounding through the door.

“Hello! Where’s Eren?”

“Nice to see you too, Shitty Glasses.”

“Yes, hi, hello, Levi. I’m here to check up on Eren’s healing, it’s been a month. And I brought Moblit!” Hanji was walking further into the apartment, searching for Eren, not looking back as they spoke.

Levi looked to the sheepish man that was still hovering in the doorway, “Well, come on in.”

“Thanks, and… Sorry,” Moblit muttered.

Levi waved him off and let the door close behind when everyone was in. He went after Hanji and found them examining their movie collection, sparse as it was. “He went on a walk, should be back anytime now.”

Hanji looked over at him blankly, clearly having forgotten why they came. Their eyes lit up when they remembered, though, and they jumped up, “He’s out walking! Fantastic! We’ll just wait here.”

Levi glanced longingly at his book, wishing his quiet could have lasted a bit longer, then went to the kitchen, resigned to the intrusion. He put some water on to boil, “Tea?” He was met with a chorus of affirmation and got out four mugs.

Levi heard the door just as he finished brewing the tea. He took over Eren’s mug to greet him, “Brace yourself, we have company.”

Eren cocked his head at him in question, but he took the mug and continued into the apartment.

“Hanji! And…” Eren started when he saw the two people in the living room.

“Moblit, he’s my assistant, of sorts.” Moblit smiled and offered his hand to Eren while Levi came in with the rest of the tea, offering a mug to each guest. While Levi went back to the kitchen for his own tea, he heard Hanji start asking questions.

“So how’s your leg feeling? I’m glad you’re walking on it so well.”

Levi sat down next to Eren on the loveseat. “It feels pretty good actually. It gets stiff sometimes, sore if I don’t move around for a while. I go walking a lot to get out of the apartment, and I think it helps.”

“That’s incredible. See, Moblit, I told you he’s an anomaly. Eren, could I get some blood samples again, and maybe see what your regeneration time is on a different kind of wound?”

“Okay, that’s enough. You aren’t going to hurt him, Hanji.” Levi decided to step in before they tried to suggest something entirely ridiculous, like dismemberment. Moblit reached over at the same time in some sort of attempt to placate them as well.

“Umm,” Eren started, Levi looked over to him. He looked uncomfortable, but also determined. “If I can help with something…” he trailed off.

“Oh you’ve done it now…”

“Really! That is great news. Moblit, go get my bag.” Hanji spoke over Levi’s warning, throwing their hands around excitedly. Levi and Moblit sighed in unison and Moblit went to the entryway where Hanji had dropped their medical bag. They continued babbling at Eren and asking questions which he answered a bit hesitantly, but maintained his determined attitude. Levi tuned the conversation out, leaning back into the couch.

As much as Hanji tended to annoy him, he missed their erratic behaviour. He hadn’t been injured in a long time, so had no real reason to visit them. He grimaced a bit at the thought; he shouldn’t need a reason. Hanji was his friend, he’d have to make more of a point to visit them in the future. They used to talk all the time. Hanji was the only person other than Erwin that he trusted completely.

Levi was jostled from his thoughts when Eren yelped in pain. Hanji had just pulled a knife across forearm, thankfully shallow, and was now staring at it intensely. They reached out a hand blindly and Moblit placed a camera in it. When they finished taking pictures of the wound, they spoke, “So Eren, you’re into action movies?” Levi furrowed his brow at the odd question.

“Uh, yeah I guess. I’ll watch anything I can get interested in though. How’d you know?”

Hanji gestured to the movie collecting they had been eyeing earlier, “All those are action movies. And I know they aren’t Levi’s.”

Now Levi narrowed his eyes at them, but Hanji ignored the death glare, totally impervious, when Eren responded, “Yeah, no, they’re all mine.” Levi relaxed, glad the brat wasn’t picking up on the opening Hanji left there.

“Because Levi would have to have _Say Anything_ and _When Harry Met Sally_ in any collection of his.” There it was. He intensified his glare at Hanji, avoiding Eren’s surprised stare he could feel boring into him.

“You like romantic comedies?”

To his credit, Eren’s question lacked any hint of amusement. He only sounded curious. Levi spent another moment killing Hanji in his mind before schooling his expression into something aloof and indifferent and turning to Eren. “Yes.” He mentally cringed, that sounded more defensive than he was going for.

Levi saw something in Eren’s eyes change before a massive shit-eating grin widened his features. Levi slapped the back of his head before getting up and collecting empty mugs, “Wipe that grin off your face. I’m allowed to like things.”

Eren sputtered, “W-well, sure, y-yeah. It’s just… unexpected.”

“Tch.”

“Well, we’ve been here long enough. Great to see how you’re doing, Eren. I’ll just take a few more pictures and we’ll be out of your hair. Go ahead and text me pictures when it scabs and then when it heals.” Hanji started ushering Moblit toward the door. “Oh, and Eren?” Eren looked back at them and they opened the door, “I heard _Crazy, Stupid, Love_ was good.”

The door shut behind them. Eren’s mouth was hanging open and Levi was back to glaring at the door.

“Do you want to get it?” Eren’s voice made his turn his head to look at him.

“Get what?”

“The movie they suggested.” Eren looked down at his hands, cheeks reddening in embarrassment. “We could watch it together.” The suggestion was soft and unsure, and he could see Eren staring pointedly at his hands, avoiding Levi’s stare.

What was up with this kid? One minute he was ready to tease him mercilessly for his weakness for cheesy romantic comedies, and now he’s offering to indulge. And why did that make his chest feel tight? Had anyone else asked that, Levi would have just told them to fuck off and been done with it. He didn’t share his more vulnerable moments with people. Letting someone experience his genuine enjoyment in the sickly sweet story lines was out of the question. But this was Eren. And for some reason, that mattered. Why was that?

Fuck.

Eren looked back at him, still waiting for a response. As soon as those big green eyes met his, he knew he wouldn’t deny him. “Fine.” The brilliant smile and eyes glittering with happiness he got in response was totally worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeee, Levi is actually a huge softie at heart. I adore him. Also, Everyone should go read The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, from which Faith of the Fallen is the sixth book. They're really excellent books. They'll continue to pop up in the story occasionally.


	7. The Little Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren had been having a shit day since the very beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my wow. So I have kind of a lot to say. First off, I cannot believe that more than 100 people thought this was cool enough to kudos. Thank you sooo much. So, there's a picture in the chapter for you. It's going up on tumblr as well, I'll link it in the notes at the end. Also, I don't know how many of you keep up with the manga, but holy wow chapter 62 was interesting. Eren kinda gets the shit end of every stick. So enjoy this domestic sorta fluff while it lasts cuz next update is when it starts to get real again.
> 
> So I really really hope you guys like this chapter as much as I do. And you should all thank [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com) for the idea for the scene I drew, she's great. So enjoy!
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com).

Eren had been having a shit day since the very beginning.

 

He should have known the day would go poorly when he woke up late, which he almost never did. Levi wasn’t in bed anymore. Eren got up, holding his head to try to dull the headache from too much sleep. He started making his way around the bed to gather some clothes from the closet, but heard the shower running in the bathroom, indicating Levi was in it. Eren sighed frustratedly and collapsed back onto the bed.

 

Levi’s showers had become a point of contention between them. Eren was constantly ragging on him for his tendency to take longer showers than women. Levi would counter that he prefered to be clean and that Eren probably didn’t come close to getting all the grime off himself in the short time he spent in the bathroom. He wouldn’t care, honestly, if he didn’t have to wait all the time. But Levi always ended up in the shower first, so Eren always had to wait.

 

That morning, the wait just added to his frustrations. He decided he’d wait for the shower by making breakfast. He poured some cereal into a bowl, not feeling like trying to cook anything. But when he went to get milk, he found a nearly empty jug with nowhere near enough liquid to have with the bowl he’d just poured. He took a deep breath and looked upwards, begging whatever celestial force was after him to please back the fuck off. He slammed the fridge shut and resigned himself to his fate of having to the cereal dry.

 

When Levi came out of the shower, Eren was sitting on the bed arguing with Mikasa over text message. He didn't even take the opportunity to appreciate the fact that Levi came out wrapped only in a towel, "Fucking finally."

 

"What's up your ass?" He barely registered the snarky reply as he brushed passed and locked himself into the bathroom.

 

Halfway through his shower, the water suddenly went frigid. He growled angrily at the shower tiles around him.

 

When the power flickered, causing Eren to lose the hour and a half of map exploration he had done in Skyrim, he decided he was done. He tossed away the controller, not even bothering to turn the television off after it restarted with the return of the power. The only thing he could think of that could clear his head of the shitty day was to go for a walk. He scrawled a note on the notepad on the island they left out as a grocery list for Levi telling him where he was going (he had left not long before to go grocery shopping, Eren hoped he remembered milk) and grabbed his keys and stormed out of the apartment.

 

Once he was outside, breathing in the cool evening air, Eren relaxed. He hated feeling boxed in, caged. The outside air gave him some semblance of freedom that he didn’t get when he was sitting around in the apartment. He started walking aimlessly, not giving any care to where he went. The sun was starting to set already, giving the empty city streets an intense orange-pink glow. The air was just south of pleasant, which made his skin rise up in goosebumps.

 

He had only been walking about five minutes before he had a sudden stroke of brilliance. Since the sky was darkening quickly, he didn’t really want to be wandering too far away from the apartment. He turned back and found himself back in front of Karanese, but instead of going in the front, he went around the back to the fire escape. The climb was hard, but what he saw when he reached the top was breathtaking. Why hadn’t he come up here sooner? The hell that was that day started melting away as he looked out on the city from his vantage point.

 

Eren isn’t sure how long he stayed on the roof, but the sun had set a while back and he was shivering from the rapidly dropping temperature. The pang in his stomach was his true motivation for leaving his newfound freedom. It was well past time to eat dinner. Eren descended back down the fire escape, choosing to go all the way down rather than surprise Levi by knocking at the window.

 

Eren entered the apartment and was assaulted with the scent of burnt chocolate and something sweet.

 

“Levi?”

 

The dark haired man poked his head out of the kitchen. Eren’s jaw dropped. Levi was disheveled, to put it lightly. He was covered in flour and his usually impeccable hair was sticking out in all directions. The apron tied around him was spattered with chocolate stains. “Go sit.” Levi pointed at the dining table.

Eren managed to close his mouth before any stray drool managed to escape as Levi went went back to the kitchen. The kitchen which was in no better state than Levi had been in, flour coated nearly every surface. Eren winced internally, thinking about the cleanup that Levi would demand, but he followed instructions and went to sit at the table. He didn’t have to wait long before Levi approached with two plates of something resembling cake. “What’s this?”

 

“Cake. Well, it’s supposed to be, you already know how bad I am at cooking. I just hope it’s somewhat edible.” Levi sat a plate down in front of him before seating himself with another plate and starting in.

 

Eren just stared blankly. He realised his mouth was hanging open again and clamped it shut, but continued just staring at Levi, wondering what had possessed him to forego his adamant refusal to cook, especially after Eren had attempted to teach him.

 

“Are you just going to stare at me all night, or are you going to try the cake. It’s not very good.”

 

“That’s encouraging.” There it was, using sarcasm as a coping mechanism when his brain didn’t work otherwise.

 

“It’s realistic.” He was still eating it though.

 

Finally, Eren looked away from Levi and down at the less than appealing mound of chocolate cake in front of him. It may not be pretty, but at least it was recognisable. Eren took a large forkful and shoved it into his mouth. It was, frankly, not very good. It clearly didn’t have enough sugar and there was something a little off about it, but it wasn’t inedible. That in itself was an accomplishment for Levi. He continued devouring the slice in large bites, more due to his now voracious hunger than his taste for the cake. When he finished he looked up to find Levi watching him, having already finished his own piece. Both in an effort to fill the silence and to answer a burning question, he spoke, “Um, thank you. But, why?”

 

Levi shrugged and started clearing their plates before answering, “You were clearly having a shit day.”

 

That was it, all of the explanation he got. But when he thought about it, he supposed it was probably more than enough. Eren could feel the smile growing on his lips. Levi had gone out of his way to do something he hates, not to mention the mess made in the process, in order to make Eren feel better. He leaned back in his chair, grinning wider, as he heard the sink running while Levi washed their dishes. He looked over and admired the older man he’d come to know so well in a short amount of time. He still didn’t have many details about the man, but he understood how he worked, what pissed him off, what made him happy, and honestly, that was enough for Eren.

 

“I’ll help you clean up.” Levi turned to him in surprise, glanced around the kitchen, and nodded. But it was the faint upward curve of his lips that made everything bad that day melt away for Eren.

 

\--

 

When there was a knock at the door on lazy Saturday afternoon, Levi and Eren looked to each other with equal confusion. Eren was the one to get up to go answer the door.

 

“Make sure you check who it is before you just open it.”

 

Eren waved him off, but did as he suggested and frowned at what he saw. He opened the door.

 

“Eren!” Mikasa’s arms were around him before he had a chance to react, her crutches forgotten against the doorframe.

 

“Mikasa, what are you doing here? How did you even get here?”

 

“I wanted to see you. I got Jean to drive me.”

 

Eren scoffed at the mention of the name, he’d do anything for Eren’s sister. “Does he know why?”

 

“No, I’m not that stupid. Marco mentioned that they would be up this way, so I asked to tag along to run some errands. I’ll have Armin pick me up.”

 

“You aren’t supposed to be climbing stairs.”

 

She gave him a cold stare that told him not to lecture her. He looked her over for a moment, before cracking a huge smile and hugging her again. “I’m glad you’re here. Come in, I can put on some tea. I’ll introduce you to Levi.”

 

Eren felt her stiffen at the name, “Yeah.” Her voice was quiet. Eren shrugged at her odd behavior, handed her her crutches, and helped her into the living room.

 

“Levi, this is my sister, Mikasa. Mikasa, Levi. I’m going to make some tea, do you want some, Levi?”

 

Levi nodded, his eyes never leaving Mikasa, who was now seated on the loveseat. Eren noted the strange behavior, but figured Levi just didn’t like new people. He didn’t really like any people actually. He left them alone to boil water for their tea.

 

When he returned, three mugs balanced in his hands, Mikasa and Levi looked like two cats sizing one another up. Both had similar cold stares trained on one another, tracking every shift the other made. Eren sighed and suddenly two sets of eyes were staring at him. He smiled and started passing out mugs before sitting down next to Mikasa and patting his lap, indicating she should prop up her injured foot. She complied easily.

 

“How much longer until you’re healed up?” Eren had begun gently massaging her ankle out of instinct.

 

She closed her eyes at his ministrations, “At least two more months. I don’t have your crazy healing abilities.”

 

Eren chuckled, “You should meet Hanji, they want to run all kinds of tests. I didn’t even think it was that weird.” Eren glanced up at Levi only to find his gaze boring into Eren’s hands on Mikasa’s ankle. He furrowed his brow, “Levi?” Levi’s eyes shot up to meet his then over to stare down Mikasa again. “What is up with you two?”

 

Both of them looked at him again. Mikasa was the first one to break away, putting up a sweet smile that Eren immediately knew was fake and a little condescending, “So Levi, where did you go to school?”

 

Levi’s eyes narrowed, “I didn’t.”

 

“You didn’t?” Eren prompted. This was new information for him. They didn’t talk much about anything that happened before they met. “Why not?”

 

The gaze Levi was fixing Mikasa with went icy. He kept his venomous glare focused on her as he answered Eren’s question, “I couldn’t.” Eren knew Levi well enough to know not to keep asking.

 

Eren continued to attempt to spur some sort of conversation between the three of them, but was becoming increasingly frustrated by both other occupants’ unwillingness. At best, he could get a small conversation going with one of them while the other glared daggers. At worst, there was tense silence while he watched on as his sister and roommate had some sort of icy conversation with their eyes. He’d never seen either of them quite like this. Granted, he’d only known Levi for a couple months, but he’d known Mikasa for more than fifteen years. She could be cold and hard to get on with, but she’d never been quite so outwardly hostile to someone before. And from what he could tell, there was no reason for them to hate each other when they only just met.

 

“Okay, that’s it. You two clearly have something going on and I can’t take it. I’m going to go to the bedroom and you two are going to figure out whatever it is you need to figure out. You’re both very important in my life and you need to at least be able to sit in a room together without making it feel like the next ice age. Come get me when you figure something out.” He stood up (carefully setting Mikasa’s ankle aside before doing so) and stormed out.

 

Once the bedroom door slammed behind him, he leaned against it and took a deep breath. What the hell was all that about? He pushed himself off the bed and wandered to the small bookcase Levi had set up. He read through all the titles three times before giving up on Levi and Mikasa coming to a quick resolution and pulled a book from the shelf: _Wizard’s First Rule_. Levi said it was the first book in the series he’s always reading. He figured he’d at least be able to figure out why Levi was so into the series in the time it took for them to kiss and make up. _Okay, stop that mental image right there._

 

Eren was in the middle of learning the finer points of what a wayward pine was when there was a soft knock at the door. “Yeah?”

 

Mikasa pushed the door open cautiously, as if she was worried he would explode at her, “Hey.”

 

He smiled at her, trying to set her at ease, “Hey, how’d it go?”

 

She relaxed when she saw him smile, “We came to an understanding. But I don’t think I should stay. I already called Armin, he wants to get me from a coffee shop down the road, so I’m going to take off.”

 

Eren marked his page and got up to walk over to her, “Let me walk you and wait with you. It’d be nice to see Armin anyway.”

 

She shook her head, “You stay here. I’ll be fine. I’m sure you’ve got stuff to do and it’s late.”

 

“Well, let me at least walk you downstairs.” She looked like she would protest again, but finally nodded and let him help her out of the apartment and down to the lobby.

 

When they hugged, Mikasa whispered in his ear, “He’s a good man.” Eren looked at her with brow furrowed in confusion, but she just smiled conspiratorially and hobbled out on her crutches. He shook his head of his confusion at her sudden change in opinion and made his way back up to the apartment.

 

Eren almost expected to smell something cooking when he walked in, and smiled to himself when he realised how ridiculous that would have been. He found Levi with his face in a book again. “Hey, heard you guys don’t hate each other anymore.”

 

“We never did.” He didn’t even look up from his book. Eren thought that was the end of the conversation and was about to get up and retrieve the book he had started when Levi spoke again, “She’s my cousin.”

 

“What?” Eren blurted before he had even processed the information.

 

“My last name is Ackerman. Her father was my father’s brother.” He gestured to the expanse of couch next to him.

 

Eren took the invitation and sat down, “The tattoo,” he muttered quietly to himself. Levi nodded and Eren continued louder and a little hurt, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

Levi shrugged, “It wasn’t important.”

 

“And it is now?” The question had more bite than Eren had planned, but he held his ground.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why?”

 

Levi sighed. He tapped his fingers against the book he still held, then met Eren’s eyes, looking somewhat pained. “I promised her I’d tell you.”

 

Eren drew his brows together, “This isn’t just about being related to my sister…”

 

It hadn’t been a question, but Levi answered anyway, “No. there’s more.” Eren maintained eye contact, waiting for him to continue. “I barely ever knew my parents. I think I was about five when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I don’t remember all that much, but I do remember the hospital. We were there a lot. And I remember that the only time I saw my father was when he brought me to and from the hospital to visit her. He didn’t even stay. Then he stopped taking me. Actually, Mikasa’s dad started bringing me to and from the hospital for visits, long before she was born though.

 

“It took her three years to die. She was miserable the whole time. I don’t even know why they bothered with the chemo. I don’t think I ever saw her look so peaceful as the moment her last breath left her. I was only eight. I think you’re the only one I’ve ever met who could come close to understanding what that felt like. Especially the part where I went home to an empty house.” He winced, “Sorry. We’re just the perfect couple with our daddy issues. Anyway, I lived in the house alone for a while, until I ran out of food. Then I started to go out on the streets during the day, begging or stealing to survive. I still came back to the house at night.

 

“That worked for years. I developed a system, managed to build some tense relationships with other people who lived out on the streets. I learned very quickly that trust got you nowhere and people would only help you if they had something to gain, it’s how the world works. I learned how to protect myself after my first day, but I was thirteen before I actually had to use lethal force. But the real trouble started when I went home one night when I was fifteen and the house was on fire. It had been burning long enough that I couldn’t even try to save anything. My whole life went up with the house, just like that. That marked the true beginning of my life on the streets.

 

“When I was sixteen, I met Isabel and Farlan. They were a couple years younger than me at the time. Just two kids that had managed to find each other on the streets in an effort to survive. At first, I didn’t want anything to do with them. I’d been doing just fine on my own and was convinced that having them around would just cause me unnecessary problems. But Isabel, something about her. She always called me Big Bro, I don’t think she ever thought for a second that she couldn’t trust me.” He huffed a breath, “You remind me of her. Same reckless personality and big green eyes.”

 

Eren wasn’t sure exactly how to take that information. He could tell the memory of Isabel was painful for Levi. He wasn’t sure how good it was that he reminded the man of someone he knew, especially because there was no way this story ended well. Before he really realised what he was doing, he found himself reaching toward Levi and placing a hand over his, which had still been tapping away at the book. Levi flinched and stilled his fingers, but didn’t push away.

 

“We’d become a sort of family. It was the first family I’d had since before my mother got sick. We used each other to survive. Protected each other. I remember the first time I killed not for self-defense. Isabel came back to where we had been making camp with her hair cut weird and she was all bruised up. She wouldn’t talk about it, said she was fine. But Farlan and I knew better. I was gone before he could try to stop me. I didn’t even let them try to justify what they had done. I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was that they died. When I came back, Farlan asked me if they were dead, but I just went to clean up, my silence answer enough.”

 

He took a deep breath and looked at their hands which were still overlapping. “When I was nineteen, we got into an… altercation with some guys, I think they were a street gang that was trying to stake claim in the area. I don’t remember, it doesn’t matter. I made the decision to split up, have Farlan and Isabel try to find somewhere to hole up while I went after the guys. I didn’t even make it to them. The trail I was following was too reckless and something didn’t sit right with me. I ran back, Farlan was already dead. Isabel… Isabel was still choking on the blood pouring out from her throat. I can’t ever stop seeing those eyes as the light just left. It just stopped.” Levi had gotten very quiet, his last words mere whispers into the deadly silence of the apartment. Eren curled his fingers around Levi’s hand.

 

Eventually, Levi started again, “Three days later, Erwin found me in an alley, starving and covered in blood. I tried to kill him. I was really fucked up. But leave it to Erwin fucking Smith to stop someone on the edge of a psychotic break. He offered me safety and job security. A place to live. At first, I only said yes because I needed to eat. But I built a new family with the people at Survey. It’s been nearly twenty years since then.

 

“Anyway,” he shook his head, dispelling memories, and looked at Eren again, “the point is, Mikasa and I had reasons to dislike each other. I didn’t even know about her parents until years later. I never knew they’d been killed, just that they died. I’m surprised someone even told me at all, it’s not like I associated with my real family. Not even sure what happened to my father. And you can imagine what finding a long lost family member that should have been there when her parents died felt like. But Mikasa and I have an understanding now, but she made me promise to tell you everything.”

 

“I…” Eren trailed off, at a loss of what to say. Or how to react at all.

 

“Come on, it’s late. Let’s get some sleep.” Levi went to stand, twisting his hand in Eren’s. Eren loosened his grip, but to his surprise, Levi held fast. Levi didn’t say anything when Eren looked in surprise at their joined hands, but instead just gave him a tug and pulled him up off the couch. Eren’s movements were mechanical as he followed behind Levi, eyes and mind concentrated entirely on the hand holding his and dragging him along.

 

Levi released him when they closed the door behind them to go get dressed for sleep. When he came back out of the closet, Eren was seated in the bed, reading the book he had started earlier that day, though he had read the same paragraph about four times and still didn’t know what it said.

 

“You’re reading my book?”

 

Eren looked up at him, “Yeah,” he smiled sheepishly, “Started it when Mikasa was here.”

 

Levi climbed into the bed, sitting closer than usual. Eren could feel the heat from him, “What do you think?”

 

“It’s good. I’m not very far. It started kinda slow, but now I really want to know what’s going to happen.”

 

Levi smiled. He didn’t just turn up the corners of his mouth. He actually smiled. It was small and barely there, but it continued into his eyes, making them shine unlike anything he’d ever seen from them. Eren found himself returning it with a big smile of his own. “You know, I would still rather just watch it as a movie or something.”

 

The scowl he got in response made him chuckle. “There’s a television show but I am not letting you watch that shit. At least not until you’ve read the books first.”

 

Eren laughed while he set the book aside and adjusted so he was laying down, “Mmm, sounds like I’ve found a sore spot.”

 

“Tch.” Levi laid down after turning off the light, facing away from Eren, but maintaining the closeness that he’d established.

 

Several minutes later, Eren was still awake. “Levi?” he whispered at the form next to him.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Levi rolled over to face Eren, their faces inches apart. “For what?”

 

Eren avoided eye contact, a blush rising on his cheeks, “For trusting me.”

 

He heard a sharp intake of breath from Levi, which brought his attention to his mouth. His lips were parted slightly. “Eren…”

 

He flicked his eyes up to meet Levi’s and he blurted out, “Can I kiss you?” He wanted to wince at himself, but held his ground. His face was hot with the deepened blush. Levi’s eyes were wide in surprise and his lips were parted again, so distractingly. Then suddenly, he no longer saw Levi’s lips but felt them. They were soft, a little dry, and somewhat stiff and unsure against him. The kiss only lasted seconds, and when they parted Levi had a deer in the headlights look to him. Eren smiled at him softly and reached for his hand under the covers, relaxing into the bed.

  
He woke up with his arm draped over Levi, still holding his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE HAVE A KISS! Thank you all again for reading and commenting and kudosing and all that jazz. ALSO, I was thinking about writing the part where Levi and Mikasa have their little chat in Levi's POV but I didn't want his backstory to be revealed till he told it to Eren, SO, if you guys want me to still write that scene as a oneshot or something, just let me know. Otherwise, you can just ask me what happens or something. Seriously, if you have questions, I LOVE talking about this universe.
> 
> Also, link to the picture: [here](http://playingchello.tumblr.com/post/99729089640/the-dark-haired-man-poked-his-head-out-of-the).


	8. It All Comes Down to You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi liked the cold. It was clean, refreshing. The chill air easily wiped away errant thoughts. It allowed clarity. It felt like renewal and rejuvenation. It was pristine. He felt like he had room to move. Like nothing was invading his space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so. Couple things.
> 
> First, TRIGGER WARNING in this chapter. There is a description of a panic attack and if that triggers you, it's the last long paragraph in the chapter and you can totally skip it.  
> Second, you guys are the fucking best. Passed 1000 views over the weekend and I can't thank you enough. I love hearing your comments and knowing you guys are enjoying the story.  
> Also, I'm working on a new oneshot right now that is quickly becoming much longer than I anticipated, but it's silly and no one dies or anything, so I'll let you know when that goes up.
> 
> A huge thanks as always to [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com) for her support and editing abilities cuz god knows I suck at it. ALSO, thank her for the little DMMD reference at the beginning ;]
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com).

“Hey, good news. Hanji said that, medically, I’m safe to go back in as long as I’m careful.” Eren looked up from his phone.

“That would be fucking great, if we weren’t still also waiting for word from Trash and Garbage that we’re free of suspicion.” Eren grimaced at Levi’s nicknames for Erwin and Armin

It had been over two weeks since they had kissed in the dark of their bedroom and Eren was at somewhat of a loss. After waking up the next morning, it was like nothing had happened. Levi never brought it up and acted exactly as he always had. There was no extra distance, no awkwardness, but there also wasn’t any added closeness. No additional glances or touches. There was not a single thing about their lives in the last couple weeks that indicated they had shared the intimate moment. Eren desperately wanted to bring it up, to understand why nothing more had happened, but he was worried about Levi getting angry or dismissing him altogether.

"Get ready to go, I've got something for you."

Eren was going to ask where they were going, but Levi had turned and closed himself to conversation. Instead, Eren simply did as he was told.

They drove into the city and arrived at an innocuous building. Levi had completely ignored Eren's questions as to where they were headed and what they were doing there. The building they arrived at was a multilevel industrial looking building. Levi punched in a code and waved a badge in front of a reader, unlocking the door before them.

The lobby was very small and unassuming. A couple chairs and a table sat to their left in the corner for waiting. There was a welcome desk in front of them, where a small, blonde androgynous person looked up at them as they walked in. “Hello, Levi.”

“Hi, Nanaba. We’re here to see Mike.”

“He’s in his office, just sign him in,” They motioned to Eren, “I’ll make him a badge. Name?”

It took a pregnant pause of silence before Eren realised he was supposed to answer, “Oh, uh, Eren Jaeger.”

Levi started writing in a binder on the desk while Nanaba set to typing up and printing him a badge. Nanaba handed him the sticker with his name and a logo for Survey Legion Group on it while Levi held open the door to the left of the desk for him. He was led down to the right to the second office on the right.

“Mike, here he is.”

The man at the desk stood up to greet them. Eren expected a greeting in the form of words or an outstretched hand but what he got was a very large, tall man bent over him and _sniffing_ him. Eren looked at Levi in alarm, but all he got was Levi examining his nails like this was a completely normal occurrence. The big man pulled back and gave and conspiratory smile. “Mike, you’re creeping him out. Anyway, I’ll be in my office, send him there when you’re done.” And with that, Levi left, leaving Eren alone with Mike.

“How tall are you, Eren?”

“Uh, 5’ 7”.”

“Great, come with me.” Mike led him through the confusing hallways lined with offices to the back of the building where there was a sort of lab. In the middle of the room were several long lab benches with all sorts of instruments organised on them. At the front of the room was a large apparatus of two poles coming out of the ground at an angle, forming a wide “v,” and connecting in to the ceiling. Attached to the poles were two steel cables with industrial strength clips at the bottom.

“Eren,” Mike called him over to the apparatus he had been examining. He held up a mass of leather straps. “This is our grapple maneuvering harness. Levi said you should be fitted and trained to use it. Here, I’ll show you how to put it on.”

The harness was complicated, with straps wrapping all around his legs and anchoring across his chest and back. A wide belt on his hips had connections for the power cell and the housings for coiled steel cables which would act as the grapples themselves. For now, all of those parts were absent, leaving only the base harness.

“How does it feel?”

Eren gave the question some consideration. The feeling of the leather wrapped around him was alien, but not unpleasant. The straps were tight, but they didn’t cut into him, at least not when he was simply standing there. He didn’t feel restricted by them in any way. He could still move freely, he just also felt the leather hugging him as he did so. “It feels… Good. Comfortable, it doesn’t restrict anything or pinch at all.”

“Great. This setup here will help teach you how to balance with it.” He pulled the cables out and had Eren stand between the poles before clipping the cables to his belt. “Ready?” Eren nodded and Mike started winding a crank which tightened the cables until Eren felt the belt pull and his feet lift up. At first, he felt fantastic, the feeling of floating was exhilarating. But then something shifted and Eren felt the world turn, his stomach flew into his throat and, next thing he knew, his head grazed the floor and his feet waved wildly above him.

“Hold still, I’m going to let you down.” Eren felt his body lower and more of him came in contact with the chilly floor. Finally, he was down enough that he could scramble up to his knees and run a hand through hair, surreptitiously checking for any injuries. “No worries. We can take a break and try again.”

“No!” Eren shouted, louder and more suddenly than intended, “No, I want to try again now. I’ll get it right.”

Mike looked at him strangely, with something like fondness gracing his features. “Alright, stand up.”

Two hours later, Eren had finally managed to balance himself between the poles, albeit unstably. He was sure that his determination to get it right was the only thing that kept him upright. Mike let him down for the final time, setting Eren gingerly down on his feet.

“Now that you’ve got a feel for it, do you want to try the real thing?”

Eren looked at Mike in surprise and then nodded furiously. Mike smiled a little and led him out of the lab and through a nearby door. Eren’s breath caught. The room they were in was massive. If Eren had to guess, he’d say that it was at least half the building, and it had a much higher ceiling. Around the room were platforms at various heights and sections of wall that looked to be made of something cushioned and covered with something like burlap. There were two other people flying through the room on similar harnesses to the one Eren currently donned.

“Welcome to the arena.” Mike started connecting the power cell and cables to Eren’s belt. “We use this to train on the grapples as well as brush up on some skills. Looks like Gerger and Nifa are running the course right now. I’ll supervise from the ground. Here are your triggers, they control the cables and how much power you use. It’s pretty self explanatory and since you’ve got the balance down, it should come almost as second nature.”

Eren nodded, staring ahead at the course. As soon as Mike finished adjusting his gear, he looked at the triggers, took a deep breath, and pulled. If he thought the feeling of floating was exhilarating, then this was intoxicating. He found himself increasing the amount of time he spent with the cables not attached to anything, letting himself freefall for as long as possible. He was getting high on the adrenaline, the feeling of freedom. The only thing marking time passing for him was the soreness in his muscles from the effort of staying balanced.

“Eren, come on down.” Mike yelled up toward him. He descended quickly and landed himself in front of Mike. “You look like you enjoyed yourself. Let’s go make a couple final adjustments then I’ll get you back to Levi.”

They went back to the lab while Mike adjusted some of his straps and helped him out of the harness. Once done, they returned to Mike’s office, where he explained how to care for the harness and how best to hide it beneath clothing. He handed over a bag containing the neatly folded harness and all its components. “That should do it. Levi’s office is at the end of the hall when you turn left out of here.” Mike smiled, “You should thank him.”

“What?”

“Erwin wasn’t keen on giving this out to someone outside the company. Levi convinced him.”

Eren furrowed his brow. Why would Levi do that for him? There wasn’t much of a reason for him to even have the harness, so why did Levi go through the trouble of convincing Erwin? It didn’t make any sense. Eren shook it off, deciding to ask Levi about it later. He thanked Mike before leaving to find Levi’s office.

On his way to Levi’s office he passed a cracked open door with the name Erwin Smith on the placard. He paused, glancing in at the man behind the voice he’d come to know. He couldn’t get a good look at him through the small opening, just enough to see he had short blond hair neatly arranged on his head. Eren continued on to the door with Levi Ackerman stamped into the placard.

Levi’s office was empty when he arrived, so Eren decided it would be best to sit and wait. He took one of the chairs at a small table in the corner and glanced around. There wasn’t anything particularly special about the office. Dark wooden desks made an L shape and housed three monitors. There was a bookshelf and a shelving unit above one of the desks, all filled with books ranging in genre and language. Eren recognised a few German titles. There was only one photograph in the entire room, framed and hung on the wall where Levi could look at it when he’s seated at the desk. The picture contained four people, three men and one woman. The woman looked sweet and had short, strawberry blonde hair. She was smiling and had her arm slung around the man next to her. He looked older, and had a sandy undercut that looked like he never managed to get it tamed. Next to him was the tallest man, with blond hair pulled back and a beard on his chin, he had a somewhat paternal look to him, like he was simultaneously exasperated and proud of the people he was standing with. The last man was dark haired with a bit of a severe look. All of them looked happy, with smiles of varying sizes. The picture made Eren smile in turn, mirroring the expressions in the photo.

“Eren?”

Eren jumped and spun to look at who had spoken. Standing in the doorway to the office was a man who couldn’t be anyone other than the notorious Erwin Smith. Through the cracked doorway before, all Eren had seen was hair, but that was the last thing he noticed now. The most defining feature of Erwin was his large bushy eyebrows, taking over much of his forehead. The next feature would be his bulky frame. This guy could act as a stunt double for a Captain America film.

“Y-yeah?”

“Erwin Smith.” He held out his hand, which Eren took to shake. “Are you waiting for Levi?”

“Yeah, do you know how long he’ll be?”

Erwin smiled and Eren instantly relaxed. Something about this guy was soothing. “Here, let me show you something.” Erwin gestured to Eren to follow before leading him back through the building. They found themselves in front of the door to the arena. “Go on in.”

Eren looked at Erwin in question, but opened the door and went back into the room. At first, he thought it was empty and was about to leave and tell Erwin off, but then he spotted the spinning figure taking off from one of the higher platforms. It was magnificent to watch. He couldn’t tell who it even was due to how fast they spun through the air. His eyes were so focused on the flying figure that he didn’t notice Erwin until he spoke, “He’s beautiful to watch, no?”

Without taking his eyes off the spinning man, Eren nodded his agreement. He felt a hand on his shoulder and then the figure stopped, high above them. Then, he descended.

“Levi?”

“Close your mouth, you’ll drool and that’s disgusting.”

“Charming as ever, Levi,” Erwin chuckled.

“Tch. Are you all done? We’ve been here for hours I’m ready to go home.”

Eren finally got around to clamping shut his mouth before answering, “Yeah, I left my bag in your office though.”

Levi brushed by between the two of them, grabbing Eren’s hand on the way by and pulling him through the door. Erwin followed at a bit of a distance, smirking at them, like he knew something Eren didn’t.

The manhandling continued until Eren had retrieved the bag and they had made it out of the building. Once they were outside, though, Levi dropped his hand and continued to the car alone, expecting Eren to follow. Levi had already started the car by the time Eren climbed into the passenger seat. Levi pulled out of the parking lot and was driving for several minutes before Eren spoke, “Why does it feel like everyone in that building knew something I didn’t?”

“You were in a building full of accomplished assassins, of course they know something you don’t.”

Eren scowled at him, and sunk in his seat petulantly. Levi glanced over at him and huffed a breath in amusement.

They pulled up in the parking lot of Karanese, but before Levi got out of the car, Eren reached over and grabbed his sleeve to stop him. He froze and looked at Eren, an eyebrow raised in question. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

Levi stared at Eren for a long time, unmoving. There was no reaction at all on his face, just movement in his eyes as they searched Eren’s face. Finally, he shrugged, “I wanted to.”

Eren had a brief moment of frozen shock before he smiled big. He and Levi both turned away from each other to get out of the car, but not before Eren caught the gentle smile on Levi’s lips.

\--

“Do you want to go to Survey today?” Levi asked as he came out from the bedroom.

Eren looked up from his book, the second in Levi’s series that he had gotten increasingly invested in. They’d been spending a lot of time going back to Survey so Eren could practice using the grapple device. Most of the time, Eren was alone during these visits. Levi would stay in his office and do whatever he does. Occasionally, though, Levi would join him in the arena and fly around the course. They didn’t really interact when they were in the arena together, they simply existed in the same space. Very rarely they would have little races and competitions, but usually they moved around the course, working as two parts. They never seemed to need to talk to each other to know where the other would be, they just worked.

“No, I thought we should stay in today. Take a break. We can order out for dinner or something, just relax or whatever.”

Levi looked at him with skepticism, to which he replied by raising his hand in a placating gesture and shrugging. “Whatever you say, Bright Eyes.”

Eren raised his eyebrow playfully at the new nickname, but Levi didn’t acknowledge him. Instead, he waved Eren’s legs over so he could sit down. Eren complied, but immediately laid his legs back down across Levi’s lap. He received an icy death glare for his efforts, but simply smirked, causing Levi to twist his mouth in something resigned and accepting to the physical contact.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, reading their books while soft classical music played from the television. Eventually, Eren spoke, “Who are the people in the photograph in your office?” The question had been bothering him ever since he had first seen the picture, but he hadn’t been sure how to bring it up. Now, he went for his tried and true method of blurting it out at an inappropriate moment.

Levi frowned, “They were my team.”

“Were?” Eren asked before he could think better of it. Judging by the way Levi clenched his book harder, it was a sore point.

“Yeah. I had a team for several years. I hand-picked each of them for their excellent skills and the fact that I trusted them. Petra Ral, Auruo Bossard, Erd Gin, and Gunther Shultz. They were some of the greatest people I’d ever known.” Levi sighed and looked over at Eren with sad eyes. “They died.”

Levi closed his book and rested his arms across Eren’s legs, one hand curling around Eren’s calf. His grip was strong, almost painful. Eren tried to keep the grimace from his face, “Levi… You don’t have to—”

“It was supposed to be a simple recon job, we weren’t even trying to kill anyone. We were just scouting the people, the area. We had the ghost of an idea that we’d be getting a job involving a high profile target, so we were canvassing, info gathering. I don’t even know exactly what happened. I had separated from them to check in with Erwin. When I went to regroup with them, all I found were broken bodies.”

Eren sat up so he could place a hand on Levi’s shoulder, straining the scar tissue on his hip slightly. His thumb moved in little circles over the muscle, trying to comfort the man. He felt Levi lean into his touch.

“I still did the job. We did end up having it come in. Our surveillance made it considerably easier. I never really gave myself time to process their deaths. We didn’t even get a proper funeral. No remembrance for assassins who need to be cleaned up as if they never existed.” He leaned his head toward Eren’s hand, still on his shoulder. Then he released Eren’s calf and reached up to place his hand over Eren’s. “That picture is all I really have of them.”

Eren didn’t know what to say. He didn’t do comfort very well. It was especially hard considering this was _Levi_. Levi liked emotion about as much as he liked mess, which was to say not at all. This was clearly really hard for him to think about. It had been quiet for a while now, both of them just existing in their current position, close but not intimate. Eren desperately wanted to do something for Levi, but was at a total loss as to what exactly it was he should do.

Eventually, Eren just stopped thinking and did. He extracted his legs from Levi’s lap and scooted closer while taking the hand that was over his down from his shoulder but still keeping hold. He wrapped his free arm around Levi’s shoulders and buried his face into Levi’s collar bone, not bothering to keep himself from inhaling deeply. He felt Levi tense, but then immediately relax under him. Levi’s hand squeezed his where they were joined, a silent thanks, as he laid his head on Eren’s.

Several minutes passed like this, quiet and close, intimate. Then, Eren felt Levi shift and he lifted his head as Levi pulled away and stood. “I’m going to take a walk. You should order something for dinner.” And with that, he left, pausing only to take keys with him.

Eren stared at the door after he had left. His mind raced with thoughts of Levi’s story, of how much the man had been through in his life, and how many people he had lost. He had faced so much more pain than anyone deserved, least of all Levi, who Eren had come to know and care for deeply.

Then there was the intimacy they’d shared. Eren had always found Levi attractive, but lately the attraction had evolved. Eren had spent the last months, not only in close proximity to Levi, but getting to know him as a person. He was able to see the little vulnerabilities that slipped out day to day, to see the cold exterior Levi showed outwardly was just that—a mask. Levi cared a lot more than he let on, and Eren could understand why he tried to hide it. The man had been through hell. With each attempt he made at caring and loving, he was faced with death and pain.

As Eren stood up to unlock the door for when the delivery of food came, he had a moment of clarity. Levi wasn’t cold toward people, he was terrified. He was scared to let anyone in because his only experience with doing so ended in loss. As he dialed the local Italian restaurant to order dinner, he wondered if Levi even realised it himself.

\--

Levi liked the cold. It was clean, refreshing. The chill air easily wiped away errant thoughts. It allowed clarity. It felt like renewal and rejuvenation. It was pristine. He felt like he had room to move. Like nothing was invading his space.

It was also lonely. Quiet. Other people didn’t like to be in the cold. Until recently, Levi would have kept that on his list of reasons why he enjoyed it. But lately, it had become oppressive in its loneliness. It filled his head with thoughts of the people he’d lost, reminded him of how alone he had gotten. How it had been his own doing. It gave him too much clarity, too much to think about.

Today, despite the topic of conversation he had walked away from, the cold just made him think of Eren. Eren was unlike anything Levi had ever known, except for maybe Isabel. He was so full of life, so vibrant. Where Levi was cold and calculating, Eren was warm and bright. He had energy that lit up the room, a burning flame.

Eren smiled a lot. Even when he was upset, he’d still find the energy to put a smile on his face, however fake. And when it was genuine, it was stunning. And if somehow, Levi managed to be the reason that smile was there—well then it was simply breathtaking. The way he looks when he’s smiling was cemented in Levi’s mind’s eye.

And then there were his eyes. Nothing compared to those eyes. Most of the time they were green. Those were the times they reminded him most of Isabel. They had the same green, the same life. But when Eren was happy, they’d get bluer, like the deep sea. When he was angry, they got yellower, almost golden. When he was sad, they got light and watery. And they were so goddamn expressive. Eren’s thoughts shone in his eyes, in their color, in their light, in their subtle shifts.

And that’s what scared him. Eren’s care for Levi was so plain in his eyes. His attraction was obvious from the start, but the care was something that developed. Levi watched it happen. He could see the shifts in the way Eren looked at him. He saw the cocky lust as it morphed into loving concern. He could pinpoint each moment in the time since they'd met that Eren’s feelings had shifted.

They had kissed. Actually, Levi had kissed Eren. But Eren had asked. Levi had had his share of casual sex. It was a release. But he had never had a relationship, never let emotion be part of it. He’d certainly never just kissed someone. Even his first kiss hadn’t just been a kiss, and it had been far from out of any sort of caring. But Eren had cared. He remembered the way his lips felt against his, warm and a little dry. Gentle. Loving.

Eren Jaeger had fallen in love with him.

And he had let him.

And maybe, just maybe, he was falling in love with him too.

Erwin knew first, but Hanji was the first to bring it up. Levi had denied it at every opportunity. He couldn’t get close to this kid, couldn’t care. If he cared, bad things started to happen. No one seemed to be able to survive his trust, his compassion. Erwin and Hanji were the closest people he had. And he trusted them completely. But he didn’t allow himself to care too much. Wouldn’t let himself show them compassion. Because if he did, he had no doubt in his mind that their deaths would follow. He'd lost the will to care, left it behind with the deaths of Isabel and Farlan and again with the deaths of his team.

And then Mikasa came. She cared for Eren so much, and he clearly felt the same for her. He couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of their connection. A connection he was never able to enjoy. And after they got over hating each other, she saw it, too. She saw Levi falling for a kid with bright eyes that he’d met by accident. Everyone saw it before he did. She made him promise to tell Eren everything about him. To not lie about his past. But now he realised she had meant so much more than that. She wanted him to be honest about how he felt.

The cold gave him clarity.

Suddenly, there was no where he wanted to be other than back in that apartment.

He’d managed to walk quite a distance from Karanese, lost deep in his thoughts. He spun around and picked up his pace, bringing up mental maps to determine the shortest route back. Even as fast as he walked, it still took him a good ten minutes to make it back to the building. He pulled his key from his pocket, but found the door already unlocked. Levi stiffened, immediately reaching for a gun that wasn’t there, before he remembered telling Eren to order food. He’d probably left the door unlocked for the delivery. He opened the door and called out, “Eren?”

There was no answer.

“Eren?” He walked over to the notepad, making sure Eren hadn’t left to go on a walk as well. There was no note. Eren’s keys were still in the dish. His book still out on the coffee table. Starting to get more and more uneasy, Levi went to the bedroom, checking the closet and the bathroom. There was no sign of Eren anywhere in the space.

Levi felt something cold and tight in his chest. It was a feeling he’d had only twice before. Panic. He felt his stomach in his throat, chest tight. He struggled to breathe. His searching became more frantic, checking even the most illogical places more than once, just to be sure Eren hadn’t suddenly appeared. His eyes felt hot, they burned with the tears that he refused to let fall. The room felt hot and cold all at once. The air around him pressed down on him, making the space feel exceptionally small, but Eren’s absence left a huge hole, making it feel too big. His throat was constricting with each passing moment, threatening to close completely.

He called Erwin.

****  
“Eren’s gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeep. SORRY! I'm gonna go hide now.


	9. Through with the Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fact that it had been three days had been agonising.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my dogs woke me up at 6 so instead of sleeping, I'm updating. Happy day!!! Maybe.... Anyway, I LOVED hearing your reactions last chapter, I'm so glad you all felt Levi's pain. And i am dying to hear reactions on this chapter. This was my favorite chapter to write in the whole story and i can't wait to hear what you think of it, so if you can drop me a comment or a message on tumblr or something, I'd really appreciate it!
> 
> Also, TRIGGER warning again, this one's a bit worse. The last scene is all detailed description of suffocation torture, so if you can't read it, please let me know and I'll summarise the important bits for you. Don't want anyone getting hurt.
> 
> I think that's all I have to say. Thanks always to [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com) for being there to bounce ideas off of and keeping me relatively sane.
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com)

Levi paced the living room, face blank, which Erwin stood behind the loveseat making calls and Mike sat on the sectional, typing furiously at his laptop. He was going over every detail since he walked into the apartment, down to the angle of the island notepad, in his head. All he wanted was to know where Eren was, to know he was safe. He just wanted to tell him he cared.

 

“Shit.” Levi stopped suddenly and whipped out his phone, locating a contact he had only recently acquired.

 

“Levi?”

 

“Mikasa. I…” Levi trailed off, trying to find the words. How do you tell someone that their only family is missing? Especially after you gave your word to protect them. “Eren…”

 

“What’s wrong? What did you do?”

 

“I didn’t do anything,” he hissed, suddenly angry. He took a deep breath, “I didn’t do anything, and now Eren is missing.”

 

He heard her gasp. “You were supposed to protect him.” Her words were quiet, but that didn’t make them hurt any less. He could almost hear her blaming herself as well.

 

“Trust me, you can’t blame me more than I do. I should have been there, and I wasn’t. But we can’t change anything now, we can only try to get him back. Do you have any idea where he could have gone or who would want to take him?”

 

“We’re assassins, Levi, we have more enemies than friends. I can’t think of anyo—” She stopped abruptly, mid-word, with a sharp intake of breath.

 

“What? What is it?”

 

“He told you, didn’t he? He told you about mom?”

 

Levi drew his eyebrows together in thought, “His mom? Yeah. Apparent suicide, but he was sure there was more.”

 

“Did you believe him?”

 

“I had no reason not to.”

 

“Whoever was behind that, that’s the only thing I can think of. Armin has everything we’ve got so far on it, it’s not much, but you should talk to him.” She got quiet for a bit, Levi was about to thank her when she spoke again, “Levi?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Bring him back.”

 

Levi tried to stifle the strangled sound he made, “I won’t stop until I do.”

 

With that, the call ended. Levi stood in the middle of the room, feeling very defeated and hopeless. He was impressed with his own ability to remain upright. He steeled himself, reminding himself he needed to keep himself together, for Eren.

 

“Erwin, get Armin to email me everything he has on Eren’s mother. He’ll understand.”

 

Erwin nodded, still on the phone. Levi left the room to get his laptop and await the email.

 

True to form, it didn’t take long for Armin to get back to him.

 

_Levi,_

_Attached is everything I’ve managed to gather that could be related to Carla Jaeger’s death. There isn’t much, and no solid suspects. I’ve already started putting together anything I can get to help with finding Eren. I’ll keep you and Erwin updated._

_Armin_

 

There was a phone number at the bottom that Levi immediately programmed into his phone. It was about time he got the kid’s phone number. Next, he extracted the zip file Armin had attached to the email.

 

There wasn’t all that much there, just as Armin had said. The first thing he opened was the autopsy report. It was short and succinct, just an external examination and toxicology. The tox report showed lethal levels of tricyclic antidepressants. The cause of death was tricyclic antidepressant poisoning, manner–suicide. He read the report over a couple times, committing the important details to memory. Then he closed that file out and opened the police report.

 

_Thirty-eight-year-old woman found dead in her home._

_Prescription antidepressant bottle found empty on the floor._

_Found by ten-year-old son, Eren Jaeger._

_No signs of struggle._

 

Levi read over the report and called Erwin over, “Does this sound odd to you?”

 

Erwin leaned over the back of the couch to read the report over his shoulder. “Sounds like what I would try to get a report to say after an assassination.”

 

“Yeah… That’s what I was thinking…” Levi trailed off, scanning over the report again. The words didn’t sit right with him. It was like the police reports after one of his assassinations. Controlled, no room for debate. Eren had every reason to believe his mother was murdered. Worse, it looked like she may have been assassinated. Or at least covered up professionally. He supposed the mob or some other sort of organised crime was possible as well. If this had anything to do with Eren’s disappearance, it would be hard to pin down possible suspects. There is a certain amount of camaraderie in the organised crime business, but an even higher amount of paranoia and distrust.

 

“Mikasa thinks this could have something to do with Eren’s mother. That was the police report from her apparent suicide. Eren never believed it and they’ve been gathering information on it since. I’m thinking she was killed under orders.” Levi turned his head to look toward Erwin, who was coming around to the front of the couch.

 

Erwin looked to Mike, “Compile a list of all of the organised crime rings and all known members we have, including mob, assassins, gangs, everything.” Mike nodded and returned his focus to his laptop screen. Erwin turned back to Levi, “We’re going to find him, Levi.”

 

Levi just nodded, not trusting his voice.

 

\--

 

“We’ve narrowed down the list to a few minor groups all under the control of an organised crime group going by the name First Brigade. Eren’s mother, specifically, is a bit too sophisticated to have been done by the smaller gangs under their control, so I’d say we can reasonably assume that we’re looking at First Brigade itself.” Erwin was seated at the table in Levi’s office, referencing a report as he spoke.

 

Levi had taken up residence in the office over the last few days. He couldn’t stay at the apartment. Eren’s absence was too all-consuming. He couldn’t sleep in the bed they had shared. The couch in one of the conference rooms became his bed. He hadn’t even been by the apartment since the night Eren had gone missing. Once Erwin and Mike had finished their investigation of the place, they all went back to the office, Levi with a go-bag of possessions that would sustain him for as long as was necessary.

 

The fact that it had been three days had been agonising.

 

Shortly after getting here, he had attempted to let out steam and occupy himself by running the course in the arena, but he kept expecting Eren to be there with him. He noticed himself pausing to let Eren cross a path he was about to use, when the man never appeared, he almost fell from his platform. He only tried to run the course twice before he gave up and hasn’t set foot in the room since.

 

Erwin had been trying to give him little things to do to keep his mind busy, but he either finished them too quickly or couldn’t focus on them. He’d tried reading, but the books and the story just reminded him of Eren. He ended up pouring over every file Armin had sent him. He probably had most of them committed to memory now, but he still opened each one up, read through it again, tried to piece them together. Nothing was making sense. Some of the police reports he discarded, they were clearly actual suicides of troubled individuals. A couple had the same forced sound as Eren’s mother’s report. But no matter how many times he went over the files, nothing came to him.

 

One file stuck out to Levi more than any other. He spent the most time on it, read it over more than any other file. Eren’s mother’s medical files were so normal. There was not a single instance of her being mentally ill. She went to her primary care physician regularly for checkups, barely even had a cold. Then all of a sudden, two weeks before her “suicide,” she was prescribed antidepressants. If nothing else, that screamed cover-up. If the people who did this where powerful enough to alter medical records and smart enough to do the cover-up in the first place, why were the medical records so obvious? Why wouldn’t the group put a little more effort into making the depression more believable?

 

Erwin had left the office when he saw Levi was back to combing through the files again, so he was alone. He was reading through the pages and pages of Carla’s medical files for the millionth time. The same uneasy feeling was eating away at his stomach, the same one that hit him every single time he went through the file. He just knew something was hiding at the edges of his mind, and he thought that just maybe it was the one thing he was missing in this whole mess. It could be exactly what he needed to find Eren.

 

He sighed heavily, resting his head in his hands, heels of his palms over his eyes. His mind swam with images of Eren. The way he looked when he sat down at the hotel bar when they first met. His stupid confidence when he was wearing that ridiculous mail uniform at Sina Corp. His blatant staring when he thought Levi wasn’t looking, and the way he didn’t back down when Levi caught him at it. The playful and almost lecherous smirk he gave when he caught Levi staring after coming out of the shower. How scared he was when he woke up from his nightmare. The cold look when he talked about his father.

 

Levi jerked his head up suddenly, eyes wide.

 

He pulled up the company database, typing in Grisha Jaeger into the search. Basic background information appeared on the screen. Age: fifty-five… Wife: Carla Jaeger-deceased. Children: Eren Jaeger-twenty-five, Mikasa Ackerman-twenty-five-adopted. Location: unknown. Occupation: Doctor.

 

That was it.

 

The medical files were so transparent because they were a message. Carla Jaeger’s death needed to look like a suicide to everyone. Everyone except Grisha, to whom it was a message. Grisha would have access to her files, see the blatant cover-up, and know the message. It also helped explain why he disappeared. Of course, this didn’t solve the problem of who had Eren, but it did give them an excellent lead.

 

“Erwin!”

 

\--

 

“I haven’t seen or heard from him in fifteen years. And I only really knew him for a year before that. I’m sorry, Levi, I don’t know anything.” Mikasa sounded tired. Her voice was raw, as if she’d spent very little time sleeping and too much time crying over the last few days. He had no doubt to the truth of that.

 

“Does Armin know anything else?”

 

“He might. He’s known Eren longer than I have, and spent a lot of time at their house when they were younger. But as to his current goings on? I doubt it.”

 

“We will find him.” He knew Mikasa would know he wasn’t talking about Grisha anymore.

 

“Yeah.” She sighed, the exhaustion was so plain in her voice. She’d given up hiding how affected she was. “Levi?”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“Can you come pick me up? I’m still not cleared to drive. I can’t stay here. I need to do something.”

 

Levi caught himself nodding before remembering she couldn’t see him, “Yeah, yeah. You can stay here. I’m sure Erwin can find something for you, he’s been shoving all manner of shit at me.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Levi hung up after getting directions to her house. She wasn’t far away. He sent a text to Armin, both to ask for anything he had on Grisha and to let him know he was bringing Mikasa to Survey.

 

He pulled up outside the house Mikasa had directed him to. The place looked familiar to Levi and it wasn’t until Mikasa was opening the passenger door that he realised it was because it was in crime scene photos. This was the house Eren had grown up in.

 

Mikasa was silent as Levi pulled back out. She was no longer on crutches, having only a limp and an ace bandage poking out from underneath her shoe remaining of her injury. If Levi remembered, she had said she had two months before she’d be healed completely and that was about a month or so ago. She seemed to be pretty capable despite still having a month of healing to go, though she struck him as the type of person to push herself beyond what was necessarily healthy. Not that he had any room to criticise.

 

The drive was short and silent, neither of them appreciating unnecessary chatter and having nothing to really talk about. When they arrived, he set her up in an empty office and gave her a map of the building so she wouldn’t get lost. He told Erwin to give her something to do and went back to his own office.

 

Armin had sent him and email.

 

_Levi,_

_When we were kids, Grisha was the picture perfect father, despite being at work a lot. He was always good to his family, and he clearly cared about them a lot. When Mikasa was adopted, it was like she had always been there, both Grisha and Carla treated her as their own. When Carla died, he just vanished. I’ve done some cursory investigations into where he went, but nothing turned up. Eren didn’t want anything to do with him after he left, so I stopped looking. I hope that helps._

_Armin_

 

Levi replied, updating Armin with his suspicions, before doing a bit deeper of a search for anything on the elusive man. But after several hours, he had no additional information. Grisha had essentially gone off the grid. He hadn’t used a credit card or paid any sort of bills since he disappeared. He hadn’t set foot in a hospital, at least not any that held records of his employment.

 

He picked up his inter-office phone, “Mike, can you get me everything you can on Grisha Jaeger from the last five years. It’s not going to be much, he’s been off the grid. We need to find something. He’s our only link to who took Eren.”

 

“It’s my number one priority.”

 

“Thank you, Mike.” He hung up after Mike grunted in reply. Just to be sure, Levi checked on the status of Eren’s phone. As it had been the last few days, it was still off, so there was no chance to use it for tracking. He frowned in disappointment, then went about contacting anyone he could think of for information on Grisha.

 

\--

 

“Levi was right, there’s very little on Grisha Jaeger in the last fifteen years, much less in the last five.”

 

Erwin, Mikasa, Mike, Levi, and even Armin were gathered in a conference room in Survey. Mike was giving them the information he’d manage to gather.

 

“Electronically, Grisha doesn’t exist. There is not a single trace of a paper trail for him since he disappeared.”

 

Mike paused, letting that sink in and watching as everyone in the room deflated a bit.

 

“However,” he smiled, giving in to his flair for the dramatics, “paper trails are not my only means of tracking a person. I wasn’t able to find Grisha, but I was able to solidify that he is connected to the First Brigade. And not in a good way. He used to be a sort of no-questions-asked doctor for them, but somewhere along the line the relationship went sour. Now, First Brigade is at the top of the list of people who hate Grisha Jaeger.”

 

“So we now have excellent reason to believe that they are the best suspects for having taken Eren,” Erwin mused.

 

Levi asked the obvious question, “So where are they?”

 

\--

 

One of the most terrifying things for a person is to start to lose the ability to breathe. Without air, a person’s mind goes fuzzy, their chest is constricted, panic sets in. The effect is multiplied when the victim has no idea when it’s happening. One minute, they’re breathing normally, the next, gasping for enough oxygen and getting sick with the effort. Then, it’s back and they can breathe, gasping to refill lungs that were deprived only moments before. Their brain is addled, high and almost euphoric from the oxygen deprivation to the brain. Everytime the oxygen drops, the high comes back. But so does the panic. And in a tiny room with nothing but a chair, there is no escape, nowhere to hide, no surface to break in order to suck in sweet oxygen.

 

Eren’s breathing was just starting to even out, but he still couldn’t think properly. He coughed pitifully, trying to expel the nitrogen from his lungs faster. The voice came over the speaker overhead, “Where is he?”

 

Eren croaked out something between a yell and a sob. His voice was hardly recognisable from the the screaming, crying, and vomiting. “I-I don’t k-know.”

 

The voice from the speaker chuckled before cutting out. Eren heard the distinctive hissing sound of nitrogen flooding the room before his body immediately started reacting in some sick Pavlovian response. His breathing began to hitch and his eyes watered. He hadn’t even started feeling light headed yet, but by now the response was automatic. He was entering panic mode again. It didn’t take long for his brain to go blank from the high. He felt the room spin and his stomach lurched, trying to convulse but lacking anything to be rid of. A tiny amount of bile dribbled out of his mouth as his stomach clenched repeatedly. His mouth worked, trying to open wider and suck in more air, but it just made it worse. All he got was more nitrogen, replacing the oxygen in his lungs. His body shut down, trying to direct its remaining oxygen stores to the most important functions. His eyelids fluttered, he thought he would pass out, but just before the world went dark, the hissing stopped briefly and started again, but he knew it was oxygen filling the room again. His vision cleared slightly as the life-giving gas was able to make it back into his lungs and through his body.

 

He’d lost count long ago of how long he’d been in the tiny room. He had no idea how many times he’d been deprived of air before it was given back again. Sometimes he was aware enough to feel the pain in his fingers and torso and throat from where he’d scratched at himself in desperation. The wooden floors had dried blood filling scratches from where he’d scratched at them, trying to grasp something, to hold on. The chair was upended in the corner from when he had fallen from it long ago, never again having the desire or strength to sit upon it.

 

He remembered the apartment, picking up his phone, dialing the restaurant’s number. He remembered thinking about Levi, waiting for his return. He remembered the voice on the other end of the line, a sweet female voice asking cheerily what he wanted to order. Then a tiny pain in his neck. And nothing. The next thing he remembered was waking up in this room to the voice from the speaker. He had no face with which to match the voice. Just the gravelly tone of what sounded to be an older man. A voice that asked the same question over and over. Where is Grisha Jaeger?

 

He’d tried telling the voice that he hadn’t seen him in fifteen years. He tried saying the man had walked out on his life when his mother died. He tried saying he didn’t even want to know where he was, that he didn’t care. He couldn’t even confirm for sure whether or not his father was alive. As far as Eren was concerned, Grisha Jaeger ceased to exist fifteen years ago.

 

The speaker crackled to life, “I’m beginning to lose my patience, Eren.” The voice sounded bored, but it spat his name as if it was vile poison, “Here’s what I’ll do for you. In,” pause, “about thirty minutes, that room will be filled with concentrated oxygen, similar to what they give you in the hospital. This will likely be quite pleasant and you’ll probably end up with one hell of a high from it. When the oxygen is done, I’ll turn the nitrogen back on. You won’t even notice anything for at least fifteen minutes or so. But once the oxygen levels in the room go down to about 18% you’ll start recognising the effects of nitrogen asphyxia, though I’m sure it will be considerably worse after coming down from the oxygen high. Once the oxygen reaches 6%, you’ll die. I hope you don’t let it get that far, it would be highly regrettable. I’d say you have around fifty or so minutes before that happens, I’d think long and hard about what you know.”

 

The speaker cut out. Eren’s mind spun, still cloudy from his most recent asphyxiation. Without the information the voice was seeking, he would die. And since he did not have the first clue where his father could be, he was pretty sure he had less than an hour left of life. He figured most people in his situation would find peace in that, knowing the torture would be over soon. Or at least have the good sense to be scared of what was to come. But it just made Eren angry. As oxygen continued filling the room, his breathing turned to seething. His mind was getting clearer and his lungs didn’t hurt quite so much. His fist clenched, reminding him of how torn to pieces his fingers were. He was going to die for nothing, for a man he hadn’t considered family for fifteen years. Someone who had walked out on him when he had lost his mother. He had lost nearly his entire family that day. And now he was dying for it.

 

Eren didn’t have many regrets in life. Dying meant he couldn’t continue looking for his mother’s killer, but he figured he could trust Mikasa and Armin to continue that pursuit. He didn’t have a single shred of guilt for any of the people he had killed, they all deserved it on some level or another. He was upset that Mikasa and Armin won’t know why he died, hell they probably won’t even find him. But he doesn’t regret any of that.

 

He did regret not kissing Levi again. He didn’t regret not saying anything, though, it wasn’t necessary. Levi would have needed to be worse than blind to not see how Eren felt about him. He just regretted not trying to do anything about it. He regretted the opportunities he didn’t take for contact. Regretted not sitting a little closer to him on the couch, not wrapping around him as they slept. He regretted not knowing what it felt like to have his cock balls deep in his ass.

 

Well, that would be the oxygen high setting in.

 

As if on cue, the hissing of the oxygen cut off, replaced by a new hissing. The nitrogen was coming back. He had about twenty-five more minutes of life if the voice had been accurate. He sat up against the wall, wincing from the exertion. He banged his fists back into the wall, angry with no real outlet. He wasn’t out of fight, but he didn’t have a way to do it. He was done pointlessly scratching at himself and the floor, tearing his hair out. There was nothing left to do but wait. Wait as the nitrogen slowly replaced the oxygen in the room. His breathing got heavier again, more laboured, more desperate. He let his head fall back against the wall heavily, painfully. His head started to get fuzzy again and his chest felt tight. His lungs started trying to draw in more air with each pull. The air left him in a wheeze, more painful than any time before. His stomach started lurching and he coughed when it convulsed. The cough made him try to suck in even more air, throwing him into hyperventilation and panic. His brain was cloudy without oxygen. He was so out of it that he imagined the door opened and light filtered into the dank room and he could have sworn he saw someone walk in. He must really be fucked up from the nitrogen.

 

He thought he saw Levi.

  
He thought he felt arms around him, but he couldn’t be sure. His consciousness was failing him. He felt light all of a sudden, like he was floating. It reminded him of flying around the arena. He smiled at the pleasant memory. Then he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so if you've ever wondered about commenting, I BEG you consider telling me how this chapter made you feel, especially the last bit. Thanks for reading, as always. Only two more chapters of the main story and an epilogue!


	10. Someone Has to Pay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t… Don’t ever leave me again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was feeling bad about the cliff hanger I left you on and that combined with the fact that I'm feeling generous means early update!
> 
> Also, on an unrelated note, I will be posting a oneshot sometime this week totally fluffy and silly and dumb. Nothing to do with this, but shameless self promotion. I'm thinking it'll go up in the next couple days, so check it out if you want.
> 
> All the thanks to [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com) as always for being uncannily good at guessing plot twists, including the one in this chapter.... Love you!
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com).

Something was familiar about the excited brown eyes hidden behind glasses that were centimeters from his face. “Hanji?” His voice cracked when he tried to speak.

 

The eyes pulled back, “Eren! You’re awake!”

 

“Wha-what happened?”

 

“Weeeell,” they drew the word out, looking very excited at being able to explain, “you are recovering from some extreme prolonged nitrogen poisoning. Not to mention all the scrapes and the positively shredded state of your fingers.”

 

Eren pushed himself up into a seated position, sore but not in too much pain. He glanced around at the familiar hospital room, finding it virtually identical to the last time he’d been there. Identical except for the noticeable absence of a certain dark-haired man.

 

Hanji must have noticed his looking around, “Levi went to get something to eat. We had to tear him away just to get him to take care of himself. Moblit is with him.”

 

Eren nodded absently, now examining the the bandages covering his hands. He looked at the doorway when he heard Hanji’s voice from farther away. He hadn’t noticed them leaving the room, and now he could hear them speaking in a low tone just outside his door.

 

All of a sudden, the doorway darkened from Levi’s small form standing there. His eyes were wide and red and his hands were tight on the doorframe. Eren stared back at him, mouth open and eyes equally wide.

 

“Levi,” Eren croaked pitifully.

 

And then the spell was broken. Levi crossed the small room in the time it took Eren to blink. And then his lips were on him.

 

Levi had one knee on the bed next to Eren’s hip while the other supported his weight on the floor. His hands hovered over Eren’s skin, as if he was afraid to touch him. Eren let his bandaged hands settle on Levi’s shoulders and pulled them closer together. Levi’s hands finally settled, one on Eren’s chest and the other curled behind his head. When Eren parted his lips, Levi responded, adding his tongue to meld with Eren’s. Then, Eren was leaning forward, trying to chase the man who had been there moments before. He opened his eyes.

 

“Don’t… Don’t ever leave me again.” The words coming from the man in front of him were so foreign, so broken. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. Eren glanced down to the hand fisted in his shirt, pulling the fabric tight. He leaned forward, gathering Levi into his arms and holding him close. He felt the smaller man relax into him and return the embrace.

 

“I’m here,” his whisper cracks, but he continues, “I’m not going anywhere.” Tears were flowing freely from Eren’s eyes, falling to into Levi’s hair. When his breath hitched and a sob escaped him, Levi pulled back and glared at him.

 

“Don’t get your disgusting snot all over me.”

 

Eren laughed through his tears, Levi’s shit timing effectively killing the emotional mood. “Jesus, Levi. Can you let go of my shirt? I don’t think Hanji would appreciate you ruining patient clothes.”

 

Levi huffed, “Speaking of the mad scientist, they said as soon as you’re up to it, you’re free to go.”

 

“Great! Let’s go then. I just want to get home and sleep.”

 

“Slow down, Bright Eyes. You’ve got some visitors first. Are you going to be good to handle it?”

 

Levi’s concern was touching, but unnecessary. “Mikasa and Armin are here?”

 

Levi nodded, shifting so that he was sitting more comfortably on the edge of the bed, letting both feet rest on the floor. His hand covered Eren’s briefly, squeezing, before he stood and walked to the doorway, “I’ll go let them know they can come in. I need to call Erwin, I’ll be back in to bring you home afterwards.” Eren nodded, watching Levi leave.

 

While he waited for Mikasa and Armin to appear, he found a glass of water on a bedside table and realised how parched he was. And hungry. But his thirst was more easily quenched. He sucked down the water greedily, emptying the small cup in no time. He was beginning to consider pressing the button to call Hanji when Mikasa and Armin came in, complete with a tray full of hospital food and more water.

 

As soon as the tray was safely set aside, his two friends both had arms around his neck, hugging him. Armin’s face was tear-streaked before he got to Eren, and now the tears were free flowing again. Eren’s eyes began overflowing as well, and he’s pretty sure that he felt a bit of wetness where Mikasa had pressed her face into his shoulder.

 

“Hey guys? I just started breathing normally again and you’re kind of crushing me.” He winced a bit through a smile at his poor joke.

 

Mikasa hit his bicep. Hard. “Ow, Jesus, Mikasa. What was that for?” He rubbed at his arm.

 

“Don’t ever scare us like that again. We were terrified. It’s amazing we found you at all. Levi was going insane.” Eren smiled a little at the last bit.

 

“I know.”

 

“We’re just glad you’re alright now,” Armin squeezed his hand.

 

They chatted about nothing for several more minutes while Eren ate until Levi reappeared at the door. Eren noticed him lean against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, but not announce his presence while Armin continued talking. Eren smiled at him brightly before returning his attention back to what Armin was saying.

 

“As much fun as I’m sure this feelings-fest is, the brat needs to rest.” Armin jumped when Levi spoke, not having realised the man was in the room. Mikasa glared at Levi, but then immediately softened when she saw his face.

 

“Come on, Armin. We have some work to do, anyway.” Armin looked like he wanted to protest or ask something, but he looked at each of the faces in the room then nodded.

 

When they had left, Levi finally pushed himself away from the doorframe and approached Eren, “Are you ready to get out of here?”

 

Eren nodded, moving to get off the bed. Levi was there in an instant, offering his support. “Levi?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I was suffocated, my legs aren’t broken. I can walk.”

 

Levi glared at him, but backed off, instead retrieving a bag that probably had whatever Levi felt necessary to keep with him while Eren was in the hospital.

 

As they walked down the hall toward the entrance, they were stopped by quick footsteps and the loud calling of their names that could come from none other than Hanji. They turned around just as they caught up to them.

 

“Are you leaving already?”

 

“Uh, yeah,” Eren looked to Levi, “Levi said that you said I was free to go.”

 

“Oh, yeah yeah, you’re all set to go,” they waved off Eren’s uncertainty. “I just wanted to see you off! Also, I wanted to ask where your sister went, I have a few questions for her.”

 

“She left with Armin about ten minutes ago. I’m not sure if they left the hospital yet or not. I can give you her phone number, if you want.”

 

“Ooo, that would be great, yes, thank you.” They pulled out their phone and entered the number Eren recited.

 

“What do you need to ask her about?”

 

“Her injury, of course! I think it may be healing a bit wrong, and I think I can help. Plus, she has some information I’d like to have.” They winked and Levi flicked at their forehead.

 

“Can we go now?” Levi sounded impatient. Hanji threw their arms around the two of them, bringing them together into a group hug, which Levi immediately began struggling away from. “Goddamn it, let me go. Are you satisfied now?” Levi managed to break free and grabbed at Eren’s arm, pulling him free as well.

 

“Have fun, boys! Keep me updated.” Something in their tone gave Eren the impression that they weren’t referring to his recovery. He glanced back to see Hanji waving at them as Levi pulled him bodily out of the building.

 

Levi’s grip loosened when they were out of the building and Eren shivered from the sudden cold. He was still dressed in hospital clothes and didn’t have a jacket and the autumn air was getting colder. Next thing he knew, he felt warm fabric around his shoulder and turned his head to find Levi draping his jacket over his shoulders. Eren immediately began shrugging it back off, “No, you’ll be cold.”

 

“The car is not that far and you’re the one that just got out of the hospital. Just accept it.”

 

Eren debated arguing more, but then he caught the scent off the jacket that was decidedly Levi and decided he could stand to concede. Levi didn’t ask for the jacket back when they were both seated in the car and heat was filling the space, so Eren just pulled it tighter around him while Levi began driving them to their destination.

 

Eren almost didn’t realise what was wrong about what way they were driving until they passed a field he remembered playing in as a child. “I thought we were going home?”

 

“You are.” Levi’s eyes stayed focused on the road and his jaw was tense.

 

“What? No!” This time Levi did glance over. He sighed before turning down a side street and pulling over.

 

Once the car was parked, Levi turned to face Eren. “We don’t have to stay in the apartment anymore. You can go home. You’ll probably be safer there, anyway.”

 

“You’re serious? You actually think that’s what I want? Levi, the apartment _is_ my home now. I want to go home with _you_. Mikasa isn’t even expecting me back because she knew I wouldn’t be. For someone so smart, you can be so dumb sometimes.”

 

Levi was staring back at him in what can only be described as complete and utter shock. He looked like he had been blown back from Eren’s words, rendered frozen in place. “I-I didn’t think-”

 

Eren smiled, “No, you didn’t think. And if you seriously thought I would let you just walk out like nothing ever happened, something is seriously wrong with you.”

 

Now Levi looked a bit angry, his forehead creased in irritation, “I wasn’t walking away. You wouldn’t be able to keep me away if you tried, Bright Eyes. I just thought you’d want to go home.”

 

“I do. With you.” Eren reached over and intertwined their fingers, smiling. He caught a faint darkening of Levi’s cheeks before he turned forward again. Eren just let his smile stretch wider as he felt Levi’s hand tighten briefly before pulling it away to put the car back in gear. This time, the car turned back the way they had come before turning toward the outskirts of town.

 

“Levi?” They were nearly to Karanese and Levi was absently running his thumb along Eren’s bandaged hand when he wasn’t changing gears.

 

“Mmm?”

 

“How did you find me?”

 

“If I recall, you’re the one who found me.” He smirked briefly before glancing to Eren. When he saw the serious look in his eyes he sobered and his thumb stilled, “We’re almost home. I’d rather have that conversation there.”

 

Eren nodded and looked forward. He made it all the way into the apartment before grabbing Levi and kissing him senseless.

 

“What was that for?” Levi panted when they parted.

 

“When I was in that room, sure I would die, the only thing I regretted was not kissing you again.” Eren left out the more explicit thoughts he had had under concentrated oxygen.

 

“Wow, kid, you don’t need to get all sentimental and shit.” There was no malice in the statement, evident by the small smile Levi had. But then, all too quickly, the tension from the car returned and Levi frowned. He squeezed Eren’s hand then led him to the sectional, where he pulled him down so he was laying against his chest in the corner, running his hands through Eren’s hair. “Do you know why they took you?”

 

Eren didn’t answer immediately. He thought about the question, even though the answer was fairly clear. Mostly he thought about the fact that he had said they. Were there more than one? “They wanted to know where my father is. I don’t know where they got the idea that I would have any sort of idea.”

 

Levi hummed thoughtfully, the vibrations traveling from Levi’s chest to Eren’s spine. The fingers in his hair never stopped and Eren let himself relax into them, despite the heavy topic. “The people who took you are known as the First Brigade. They’re an organised crime group and they essentially rule the underground of the inner city. Through extensive research and some of Mike’s less savory contacts, we managed to learn that your father has his foot in the door with them somehow. We don’t know how, just that they have a connection.” Levi paused, as if waiting for Eren to deny that his father would have anything to do with them. But Eren didn’t even know the man anymore, who was he to say what kind of activities he would be involved in. Eren killed people for a living, for fuck’s sake.

 

Levi continued, “Somewhere along the line, Grisha made First Brigade very very angry, and when you make crime lords upset like that, you expect to die. Our information is extremely limited, but if I had to make some educated guesses, I’d bet that the relationship between First Brigade and you father went south shortly before your mother died.”

 

At this, Eren finally had a reaction. He tensed at the mention of his mother’s death. Levi was implying that the people who had taken him may have been who killed her. He always knew she couldn’t have killed herself, but he had never really given thought to the idea that it could have been some sick revenge plot to get back at his father. His anger boiled and he barely held it back from exploding. Levi’s hands in his hair was the only thing keeping him present. “Where are they, I’ll kill them all,” he claimed through gritted teeth.

 

“Slow down, I’m not done. And this still has several levels of fucked up to go.” One of Levi’s hands trailed down Eren’s arm and then joined with his hand. He wrapped both their arms around Eren’s waist, pulling him closer.

 

“You’re awfully cuddly.”

 

“Tch, are you complaining?”

 

“Not at all.” To prove his point, Eren wiggled back further into Levi’s chest.

 

“Alright, Bright Eyes. Anyway, that was the only thing we had that even resembled a lead as to where you could be. So we started looking into First Brigade. Solid information on them is unusually hard to come by, but we had Mike. We got a few names, but they were all underbosses and no one seemed to know who was in charge, just that he went by Captain. Locations were nearly impossible to pin down, too. Most of the group operated independently, wherever they felt like they could get away with it. But somehow, Mike managed to find a warehouse they used for storage and as a safe house.

 

“I wouldn’t have even thought to ask more. All I cared about was getting there and getting you out. But that stupid puppy-dog look he had looked at me with gave me pause. Mike knew something and I was so sure I didn’t want to know. I was right.” He paused. Eren felt him shift behind him, burying his face in his hair. The younger man curled tighter against him in what he hoped was comfort. His next words were practically whispers and they were muffled in Eren’s hair, “The leader of First Brigade. His name is Kenny. Kenny Ackerman. He’s my father.”

 

Eren never really thought of silence as a sound, but sitting there, it was the loudest thing in the room. Levi hadn’t been kidding when he said it got more fucked up. Eren recalled him saying they were the perfect couple with their daddy issues. He wasn’t wrong, but it had escalated to a whole new level. Their fates had been more deeply intertwined than they had ever expected. Eren thought back to what Levi had told him about his father, “Is that… Did he…”

 

“Spit it out,” the words were soft, coaxing. Not vicious in any way.

 

“The fire?”

 

Levi sighed, “Probably. It’s the only thing I can think of. I know it wasn’t anything stupid I may have done. Unless it was random or just some thug, then it was probably him or at least because of him.”

 

“What are you going to do?” That was the heart of the matter. Levi already knew what Eren wanted to do, seeing as this man was likely responsible for his mother’s death. But Eren needed to know what Levi wanted, because this was his father. And while Eren may feel no love toward his own father, he didn’t think he would want him dead. And he had no idea how deep Levi’s emotions ran for Kenny Ackerman. He couldn’t ask for his permission to kill his father. That would be entirely unfair. Even if it hurt, knowing that he had been responsible for his mother’s death and not being able to exact justice of any kind, he would bear it. He would find a way to let knowing who and why be enough for him.

 

“We. What are we going to do,” he corrected. “I can hear you thinking, and you can just stop. As far as I’m concerned, he isn’t my father. He’s some low life scum who hurt you. And I can’t let him get away with that. And you can’t tell me you would actually be alright with not trying to kill him.”

 

“Well no, I wouldn’t. But he’s your father, and what kind of person would I be to say I want your father dead for some revenge plot? I couldn’t do that.”

 

Levi tousled his hair, “Thank you, but it doesn’t matter. I want him dead as much as you do.”

 

“We’re doing this then?” Eren shifted, turning so he could look at Levi.

 

“Yeah. We’re going to kill Kenny Ackerman. And I’m sure the world will be better for it.”

 

Eren set his jaw and nodded, “Okay. So now what?”

 

“Now, you need to rest. He can wait until you’re better. At least until tomorrow.”

 

“Mmm, let’s watch a movie.” Eren said, relaxing his head back against Levi’s chest.

 

Levi pushed him up a bit to reach over to the coffee table for the remote, “Sure. Are you hungry? You should eat, too.”

 

Eren nodded, now realising just how hungry he was, “Chinese? And let’s watch one of your movies.”

 

“You got it, Bright Eyes.” He pushed Eren further forward, extracting himself from the couch to call for food and pick out a movie.

 

\--

 

Twenty minutes later, they were curled up next to each other on the couch, watching _The Decoy Bride_ and eating their weight in fried dumplings. Levi was trying his best to restrain himself from yelling at Eren for the crumbs, but failed more often than he succeeded. When they had finished eating (and cleaning), Levi sat on the couch while Eren laid his head in his lap. It didn’t take very much of Levi’s fingers running through Eren’s hair for him to fall asleep.

 

Levi looked down at Eren when the credits rolled, smiling faintly at his peaceful expression. All the hardships of the past few days erased from his muscles. No thoughts of murder or assassination or revenge marred his features. He was truly beautiful in that moment. Levi continued stroking his hair and watching him long after the credits stopped. When he heard the DVD menu music begin for the umpteenth time, he finally decided it was time to get some rest himself.

  
He gently reached over for the remote and turned off the television and DVD player. Then, very slowly, he eased himself out from under Eren’s head. The task wasn’t easy, Eren was not a heavy sleeper. But sometimes Levi’s skills at sneaking about undetected came in handy. When he was safely off the couch, he knelt down and picked the sleeping man up. He murmured and shifted, causing Levi to freeze, but he just curled in tighter to Levi’s chest, nuzzling into him a bit, before going quiet again. Levi smiled to himself and carried him to the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that was at least a little unexpected? Plus some feel good fluff there at the end, the boys deserve it. Thanks so much for reading (and commenting, kudosing, bookmarking, etc.)!


	11. The Final Solution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Alright, let’s get to work. Let’s start with the warehouse. There was no evidence of Kenny ever having been there when we got Eren out, so where do we think he is?”
> 
> Several eyes looked to Levi, “I don’t know what you’re expecting from me, I haven’t seen the man in nearly thirty years.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my birthday is tomorrow, so I'm giving you all the gift of another early update! This is the last chapter in the main story line, but there is an epilogue I'll release tomorrow. I can't believe it's almost over!
> 
> Also, the beginning of this is kinda weird? I wrote the scene two different ways and liked them both so much that I just decided to keep both. So there's that.
> 
> I owe pretty much this entire chapter to my dear love [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com). She made sure my head was on straight and also let me name Levi's mum after her, so applause.
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com).

_I can’t breathe._

Eren felt his throat closing and his chest heaving, trying to pull in air. He was vaguely aware of his body thrashing and coming in contact with something nearby. He heard something, but it was garbled, like it was being said from underwater. It didn’t matter anyway, only the tight pain in his chest mattered. His hands flew to his throat, trying to open himself up further to get enough air.

“Mnngh, c-can’t br-” his words were broken. Something was holding him back, keeping him from his throat. He fought wildly, but then he felt pressure around him, immobilising him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he recognised the feeling. He fought until he couldn’t anymore, until exhaustion permeated every cell in his body. His thrashing became half-hearted twitching before his muscles gave up altogether.

He awoke slowly, barely recognising the dark room he was in. He was laying on his side and something-no someone-was holding him tightly with his arms pinned to his sides. Awareness was slowly creeping back into his mind. “Levi?” his groggy voice called out, hoping his tired brain was correct.

“I’m here. You had a nightmare.” Thoughts of the dream poked at him, a feeling of helplessness, of not being strong enough to fight. He wiggled a bit, trying to free his arms. Levi’s grip immediately loosened, pulling away. Eren grabbed his hands before he moved away entirely, pulling him back around him in a more comfortable position, and relaxing into his hold.

“What time is it?”

He felt Levi shift, “0249.”

Eren frowned, feeling bad for waking Levi up in the middle of the night. “Let’s go back to sleep.”

“Eren…” he paused, “Are you alright?”

Eren melted at the concern in his voice, feeling guilty for worrying him. It wasn’t his fault he’d been taken. No, that blame rested entirely in their fathers’ hands. But he couldn’t even really blame his father. He supposed leaving fifteen years ago had been his idea of protecting Eren and Mikasa. While ineffective, the thought was still there, he supposed. The blame really rested in Kenny Ackerman, a man who had been destroying Eren’s life for fifteen years. He didn’t really understand how someone so terrible could have been parent to the wonderful man he was lying with. Eren wished he could have met Levi’s mother, she must have been a beautiful person. He smiled to himself, answering Levi’s question, “It was just a nightmare. But I feel safe here. You’re here.” And he did. Nothing could hurt him with Levi there. He was safe.

Levi pulled him in tighter, “Sleep.” He felt a light kiss at the back of his neck and began drifting back to sleep with Levi’s fingers trailing senseless patterns across his chest.

\--

Levi was jostled awake suddenly by pain in his leg and violent movement in the bed. Sometime during the night, Eren had pulled away from him and was now thrashing about beside him, but after the first time he avoided being kicked.

“Eren. Eren, are you awake?” He reached out a hand but paused when he saw Eren clawing at his throat, his breathing ragged and shallow. He grabbed Eren’s arms and tried to hold them back as gently as possible but the brat was strong and trying desperately to get at his throat while muttering in his sleep. Levi was at a loss. Just hours ago, Eren had been sleeping peacefully, not a care in the world. Now he was tormented by the demons Levi’s father had inflicted upon him. How was he supposed to help him? He wanted nothing more than to take away all of the pain he was feeling.

Levi tried calling out to him again, but he didn’t get a response. In a final act of desperation, Levi pinned Eren’s arms to his sides and wrapped himself around him, hugging him tight. Eren continued thrashing, but eventually his muscles started relaxing and his breathing evened out. Eventually he stilled.

“Levi?” the groggy voice of someone who had just woken up from deep sleep asked.

“I’m here. You had a nightmare.” Levi still hadn’t released Eren, but when he wiggled to try to get his arms free, Levi loosened his grip. Before he completely released him though, Eren pulled him back to him, wrapping his arms around him and relaxing back into him.

“What time is it?”

Levi craned his neck to glance at the clock on Eren’s nightstand, “0249.”

“Let’s go back to sleep.”

“Eren…” he paused, “Are you alright?”

“It was just a nightmare. But I feel safe here. You’re here.” Levi could hear Eren’s sleepy smile in his quiet voice. He pulled him in closer.

“Sleep.” he kissed the back of Eren’s neck and trailed senseless patterns over Eren’s chest until he felt his even breathing again. Levi’s thoughts wandered to his father. He hadn’t seen him in nearly thirty years, but somehow he’d managed to wedge himself into his life again. In the worst way possible. This man, this beautiful person he was holding in his arms had been hurt in every way possible by the man Levi used to know as his father. There was no forgiving that. He had almost lost the only thing he’d let himself care about in years. All because of Kenny Ackerman. He would enjoy killing him.

\--

The conference room was something Eren had yet to see in Survey, which was a surprise as it was directly across the hall from Levi’s office. The room wasn’t huge, but it housed a nice oval table with chairs all around it. A large monitor hung from one wall, presumably for video conference. A whiteboard hung opposite the monitor and was currently pristinely cleaned. If Eren had to guess, he’d bet Levi had something to do with the almost sterile quality the room had as far as cleanliness went.

Armin and Mikasa were already seated at the table, along with another person Eren hadn’t expected. “Hanji? Why are you here?”

Hanji grinned, “I may be a medical professional at heart, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have my share of tricks up my sleeve.” They winked.

Levi slapped them upside the head before sitting down while they laughed maniacally. Eren, not really knowing what else to do with himself, sat down next to Levi. They were still waiting for Mike and Erwin to arrive before they began discussing anything, so idle chatter filled the space.

Eren looked up when he noticed movement by the door. Erwin and Mike walked in together, standing close. Eren looked over to Levi in question, to which he replied with a knowing smirk and a nod, “Look who’s decided to join us. I hope you showered.”

Erwin smiled and raised an eyebrow, “At least I get laid when I spend the night with an attractive man.”

Levi glared and Eren felt his cheeks flush brightly at the implication. He sunk down a little in his chair and Erwin laughed as he sat at the head of the table. Mike didn’t look bothered in the least by the exchange, he simply sat down, an amused smirk on his face. Mikasa and Armin appeared to be doing everything to hide their reactions, somewhere between shock and sniggering. Hanji was waggling their eyebrows suggestively at Erwin and Levi until Levi flipped them off and Erwin cleared his throat.

“Alright, let’s get to work. Let’s start with the warehouse. There was no evidence of Kenny ever having been there when we got Eren out, so where do we think he is?”

Several eyes looked to Levi, “I don’t know what you’re expecting from me, I haven’t seen the man in nearly thirty years.”

“What do you remember? Is there a place he liked to go, or maybe your house when you were a kid? Anything?” Armin asked tentatively.

“Unless they built something on the plot, the house is gone. I never knew where he went. He was impersonal and I barely ever saw him. I think I remember him bringing strange men home, but only after my mother was in the hospital. It was infrequent even then. But I was young, I don’t remember much,” Levi’s reply was dismissive, but Eren could see he didn’t like talking about it. He put a hand on his knee under the table in comfort, and got a tiny smile for his efforts.

“Eren,” Erwin’s attention shifted, as did everyone else in the room, “Do you remember anything from when you were taken?”

“No, I was drugged. I woke up in that room. I didn’t even know someone was in the apartment until I felt the needle.”

Mikasa spoke up, fists clenched, “So what do we even have? This bastard needs to be taken down.”

Eren looked at her thoughtfully. He hadn’t given it consideration before, but this was her uncle they were talking about. He wondered if she even cared, she hadn’t known him. And she’d always said that Eren was her family.

“Mikasa, do you know anything?” The question caught Eren off guard, and by the look of shock, Mikasa as well. What did Erwin think she would know?

“Why the hell would I know anything?”

Hanji was the one to answer her, clearly on the same page as Erwin, “You lived with his brother. Did he ever say anything about him, or did you ever meet him?”

Mikasa went quiet, deep in thought. She looked like she was going over every interaction she’d ever had with her family. “Well, I didn’t ever talk to him directly, but we did visit the graveyard every year. I remember seeing someone lingering in the area, but he’d never get close. My parents never noticed.”

“What graveyard?” Levi’s voice was hard, cold.

“Maria Hills. We were visiting your mom’s grave.”

The whole room went silent and tense. Eren looked around the room, gauging expressions. Armin looked sympathetic and like he was worried something would explode. Mikasa’s face was blank, masking her concern. Mike looked thoughtful, like the palpable tension didn’t affect him at all. Erwin was staring at Levi, eyes full of emotion. Hanji’s face was a mirror of Erwin’s, also boring their eyes into him. When Eren’s eyes finally turned to Levi, he spoke, “The anniversary of her death is in two days.”

Eren’s jaw dropped, “What?”

Levi just glanced over, pain evident in his eyes. Erwin spoke, “That’s our best opportunity then. It’s the only place we can even come close to being sure he’ll be.”

Eren glared at Erwin, “Are you fucking kidding me? You want us to go to a graveyard, where people are sure to be mourning, in broad daylight to kill a man? Where is the sense in that?”

“Eren…”

“No, Armin,” Eren was standing now, “It’s not fair to the families who have loved ones buried there. It’s not fair to Levi. And the chances of being caught are ridiculous. I know I’m careless sometimes, but this is ridiculous!”

The entire room was staring at him. Most faces were bewildered by his outburst. Mikasa just looked resigned, entirely used to his poor temper. It was Levi’s face that placated him. He didn’t look surprised or angry, he looked determined and sad. When their eyes met, Eren’s anger cooled, leaving only concern.

“Let’s do it.” The words were quiet, but in the silence that had settled, they may as well have been screamed. “He’ll be at Maria Hills in two days, that gives us time to prepare. We can do it.” Eren opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself when he saw Levi’s pleading look.

“Mike, find out if there are any other death anniversaries of people in that cemetery for that day. Also see if you can get an idea of who goes there regularly, we need some kind of clue into who we can expect to be in the area. If we need to, Armin, can you create plausible distractions for visitors who may be a problem?” Armin nodded. “Mikasa, do you think you can act as bait? You’re the only one other than Levi that has a reason to be at that grave.”

“Absolutely, but it could tip him off. I haven’t been there since my parents died.”

“Hmmm, that’s true.”

“I could go with her.” Everyone turned to Hanji. They shrugged, “I could act as a psychiatrist, suggesting healing mechanisms. It would explain why she’s there after so long and provides added safety since she’s still not healed yet. I don’t think he’ll approach her, but he might. If he does recognise me, it would only be as the owner of the hospital. We have a psych ward, so it all works out.”

“That might just work. And I hope he does approach you, it would make it that much easier to surprise him and then he has four people on him rather than two. Either way, his attention is sure to be averted one way or another.”

“Then that leaves us,” Levi sounded almost bored.

“I assume you are capable of planning your own assassination. The only stipulation is that you have eyes on the area before we send in Mikasa and Hanji.”

Levi nodded. Eren stared blankly at the table in front of him until he noticed the silence was stretching on longer than was comfortable. He looked up to find everyone in the room staring at him. “What?”

“Are you alright with this?” Erwin asked.

“Do I have a choice?”

Levi rounded on him, “Eren, you _always_ have a choice. If you don’t want to do this, we don’t have to.”

“I do. I’m just not happy about the methods. But we really don’t have anything else to go on. We don’t know where he lives, who he associates with, where he works, anything about the person he is now other than that he’s a fucking asshole. We may never get another chance like this again for another year, and I can’t wait that long. And neither can you. We’re doing this.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” With that, Levi stood and left the room, clearly finished with the meeting. Eren looked at Erwin, who nodded at him to go, before he got up to follow.

\--

The day was bright and calm, sun shining down on the peaceful grounds of Maria Hill Cemetery. Passersby on the main road would be able to see the easternmost part of the grounds, until the hill obscured the view to the back. Paved paths criss-crossed, separating the cemetery into plots. Inside, the sounds of the city disappeared into the silence of nature. The surrounding woods kept the stone markers privately separate from peering eyes, giving the mourners peace and privacy for their visits.

The big oak trees along the cemetery tree line hid two men high in their bows. Both were dressed in more or less innocuous clothing, they could blend in with any crowd, appear normal in any situation. They had trained for this, and now they were in their element.

“These damn hugeass trees… Convenient I suppose,” Levi muttered.

Eren laughed quietly at Levi’s grumbling. He was surprised he still had a sense of humour, considering their reason for standing in the branches of the oak tree. They had the perfect view of the entire G plot of Maria Hill Cemetery, but there was only one grave that mattered. No one was in the plot, the closest people they could see were in F, and the topography would obscure them from view on the ground.

“We’re all set, no sign of Kenny yet. Come on in.” Eren spoke into a microphone hidden under his shirt, signalling to Mikasa and Hanji that they were ready. They waited in silence while the two made their way through the cemetery. The gentle breeze caressed the leaves around them, picking up slightly and causing a shiver to run through Eren. The movement caught Levi’s attention.

“What?”

“Just cold, it’s chilly up here.” Eren kept his eyes trained on the stone marking Renée Ackerman’s final resting place. He heard Levi shift and then arm was around his shoulders.

“This is it. One way or another, it ends here.”

Eren saw Mikasa and Hanji come into view, Hanji’s arm around Mikasa’s shoulder, playing the part of concerned psychiatrist flawlessly. Eren leaned his head into Levi and snaked his arm around his waist, “Yeah.”

They watched Hanji and Mikasa make their way to the stone marked Renée Ackerman. Even from a distance, Eren could tell Mikasa had tears in her eyes, she was doing an excellent job. When they reached the marker, Mikasa dropped to her knees while Hanji kept a respectful distance. Eren could see the way their hands on their hips allowed them to brush their fingers along the gun they had hidden in their pants.

Mikasa grieved in silence. At least part of her act was genuine. This was something she used to do every year with her parents, but ever since Eren’s family took her in, she hadn’t been back. She looked distraught, and guilty. Eren wished he had known this was something she had been missing out on since they took her in, he would have been more than willing to come visit the grave with her. He wondered if this was something she had needed and might not even have known herself. She never knew Renée, but she was still her family. Although, so was Kenny.

He didn’t know how much time had passed before Levi’s arm slipping away from his shoulder and his warmth leaving his side brought him back to the present. Levi nodded his head toward northeast corner of the plot. A wiry man with a beard and longer muddy brown hair under a fedora was approaching the area. Eren, never having seen the man before, looked to Levi for confirmation. Without taking his eyes off the man, Levi nodded. Eren whispered a warning into his microphone to Mikasa and Hanji.

Both Levi and Eren had instinctively grabbed the triggers for their grapple harnesses. Usually, the triggers were simple pieces which fit comfortably and discretely in hand, but theirs had been modified to fit their guns into the grips. An extra trigger on the handles acted as the gun. Eren felt at ease with the familiar weight of his Ruger P-944 in his hand, even with the added features of the handle to control the harness.

They waited in tense silence while Kenny approached the couple at the grave. He stopped when he saw them there, choosing to hold back, out of respect for their apparent grieving or out of self-preservation they wouldn’t know. Where he had stopped had left Kenny with his back facing them, giving them the perfect opportunity. With perfect synchronicity, they pulled their triggers, anchoring the grapples in the branch they stood on before letting themselves drop, using the grapples to slow their descent. Reaching the ground, they assumed the identity of two grieving people heading toward a grave, unassuming. Their guns were holstered again, but ready at a moment’s notice.

They could see Kenny in the distance, still watching Mikasa and Hanji. Levi and Eren chose a random gravestone a small distance off to pretend to grieve over while they observed, waiting to see if Kenny would approach. Hanji must have said something, because Mikasa looked back at them. When she did, she stopped mid sentence and locked eyes with Kenny. From what Eren could see, he didn’t react, but he did start to move toward them. Levi and Eren took the opportunity to move closer.

“Hello, son, it’s been a long time.”

Levi and Eren both froze. A shiver ran down Eren’s spine, having nothing to do with the cold. He knew that voice. It brought him back to a dark room filled with the scent of his own sick. His throat felt tight and he had to struggle to keep his breathing even.

Kenny turned, facing them, “Did you really think I wouldn’t figure this out? Did you truly expect that I would be stupid enough to come here unaware after I had had my captive rescued from under me by the illustrious Survey Group?” Kenny’s eyes met Eren’s, “Hello, Eren. Good to see you well, I don’t suppose you would tell me where your father is?”

Eren opened his mouth to retort, but Levi beat him to it, “Even if he did, it wouldn’t matter.”

Kenny’s eyes finally tore away from Eren’s, only to bore into Levi’s, “Is that so? Why would you say that?” He was amused and far too calm considering he was surrounded by four trained assassins. Something was seriously wrong, even if they hadn’t surprised him, Kenny should be more concerned about his position.

“Because you aren’t leaving here alive,” Eren answered.

Kenny’s eyes trained back on him. He felt naked, exposed. The man’s calm air was making him extremely uncomfortable. “Ah, now that is where you are wrong. I told you, I was expecting you. I have a few… safety measures in place. But if it’s all the same to all of you, I would like to mourn my wife.”

“You lost that privilege when you left her to die alone in a hospital bed.” Levi’s voice was full of venom, practically spitting the words.

“Oh, Levi. What did you think I was out doing? I couldn’t afford those treatments. I had to find some way to take care of her.”

“Then why was I the only one there when she died? Why did you stop coming back? I was  eight years old and you left me to the streets!” Levi was getting increasingly angry, his fists clenching and unclenching, muscles tight, poised for an attack.

“I had… other obligations.” If Eren had been an outsider, or had this been a different person in front of him, he would have thought he looked regretful. But even if he did genuinely regret his actions thirty years ago, there were things that couldn’t be forgiven. The man had hurt Levi, hurt him, killed his mother. The evidence had piled up, there was no saving this man in Eren’s eyes.

The next few things happened very quickly.

A crossbow bolt shot from somewhere behind Eren, passing by his ear, missing him by centimeters. It continued on, finding its mark in Mikasa’s arm. Eren watched it tear open her arm, just below the shoulder. He didn’t hear her gasp, but rather saw her mouth open. The blood started flowing from the wound the moment the bolt continued past her. She spent precious seconds evaluating the wound, before gritting her teeth and drawing her weapon.

Hanji had drawn their weapon before Eren even knew about the bolt. They had been surveying the land around them while Kenny spoke and was able to anticipate the attack. They pulled out triggers for their grapple harness and took off toward the tree line. Eren heard gunshots, but couldn’t spare the glance back to them.

In the sudden explosion of movement, Kenny had managed to get behind Levi and was now holding him in a headlock with a knife to his throat. Both Eren and Levi went for their guns, but Kenny tightened the knife on Levi’s neck, drawing a thin line of blood, while also kicking his knees out from under him, causing him to fall to the grass. Levi’s father stood tall over him and before Eren realised what was happening, Kenny’s right foot came down and Eren heard a sickening crack. Levi screamed. It was a sound Eren had never wanted to hear from the man and certainly never wanted to hear again.

Eren’s hand was on his gun, but it remained holstered. Kenny’s face was twisted into an amused grin, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Not if you want to keep Levi alive.” The knife pressed harder to the sensitive skin at Levi’s throat to prove his point. Eren dropped his hand from the gun. He never took his eyes of Levi’s, filled with pain. “You know, the two of you make a pretty good team, despite the unnecessary emotional attachment. It’s too bad you’re fighting on the wrong side.”

__

Kenny’s foot crushed into Levi’s leg where it had been broken. Levi’s eyes widened, but he didn’t cry out. He looked almost pleadingly to Eren, immobilised by pain and the tight grip his father held on him. Then, Eren’s eyes flicked up and met Kenny’s. He looked so pleased with himself, and it pissed Eren off. He recalled advice he had given out so many years ago, _you can’t win if you don’t fight_. He clenched his fists, set his jaw, and stared into Kenny’s eyes. He was reaching for his knife when the gunshot rang out.

Eren watched the man slump in surprise. When Kenny’s body finally fell to the ground, he saw Mikasa staring back at him, weapon still drawn and blood pouring from her earlier wound. Eren tried to speak, tried to move, but he couldn’t make his muscles work.

“Fucking hell, get this goddamn prick off of me!” Levi’s harsh voice made something click in Eren’s brain, allowing him to move to Levi and, with Mikasa’s help, haul Kenny’s dead weight off of his broken leg. Levi immediately laid down and rolled gingerly so he could examine his own leg.

When Levi tried to get up, Eren pushed him back down, “No way in hell are you going to try to walk on that.”

“Well we can’t stay here,” he returned harshly.

Eren looked at him like he had just stated the obvious, which he had. Instead of gracing him with a response, he poised himself so that he could lift Levi. When he stood, Levi grumbling complaints the whole time, he realised just how heavy the smaller man was. “What the fuck, you’re heavy.”

Levi raised a choice finger in response, “Let’s go, and someone call Erwin to clean this up. Where’s Hanji?”

Eren looked to Mikasa in question at the same time that she looked back toward the tree line.

“They went to take care of Kenny’s ‘safety measures.’ I’m sure they’re fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realise that you probably still have some questions after that. BUT THERE WILL BE AN EPILOGUE! And it's pretty much entirely smut so, there's that to look forward to as well I guess.
> 
> Also, if you didn't know, I wrote a happy little [oneshot](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2500787) and posted it recently, so if you want, you can check that out as well.
> 
> Thanks, as always, for reading, commenting, kudosing, bookmarking, and all that. I appreciate your feedback and everything so so much. I still can't believe how many people have dropped by this little story. I can't thank you guys enough.


	12. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six months later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so um. Hi. I have a lot of emotions going on right now. This is the first big project I have EVER finished writing, so I'm really quite proud of myself. It's bittersweet though. I really enjoyed writing this story and finding my muse. I related so heavily to Levi in this and it's kinda painful that it's all over now. But I couldn't have planned it better than to have it finish on my birthday. I'm definitely going to miss these dorky assassins. HOWEVER, I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year with what I hope will be a silly episodic type rom com thing with Eren and Levi. It's gonna be hilarious, I hope. So if you are into that, stick around for December. I'm also working on another project that I have no idea when it'll be done. If I finish it before November it'll get posted soon, but it's going on hold for NaNoWriMo.
> 
> Anyway, enough shameless self promotion. I love you guys so much. this story wouldn't be quite the same without you. You comments breathed life into me and I really appreciate all of the support I've gotten. Without readers, this would just be a collection of words floating around on the internet. So thank you.
> 
> Also, massive huge thanks to [Randompinkbunny9](http://randompinkbunny9.tumblr.com) as always, but especially now. We live in separate time zones and I'm constantly bugging her at dumb hours with random headcanons, begging to read my latest writing, or just complaining about my life in general. She's been a huge help and the best support team ever. Love you!
> 
> Also, this chapter finally bumps the rating! This is the first dedicated smut I've like ever written, so I hope it's not too horrendous. I can tell you this is the most edited chapter because of it. Anyway, enjoy my lovelies.
> 
> If you ever want to chat, or anything, I've got a [tumblr](http://playingchello.tumblr.com).

After making an adjustment, Eren backed up and was stopped short when his butt collided with the dining table. He steadied himself then leaned back further to inspect his work. He heard the door open and waited calmly for Levi to come inside.

 

“What the fuck is that?”

 

Eren turned to appraise Levi, “Aww, you don’t remember? This was hanging in the lobby where we first met.”

 

Levi made a sound somewhere between disgusted and amused, “It looks like you just hung a public blowjob in our dining room.” He could always count on Levi being blunt.

 

“It’s called Return of the Prodigal Son. It’s a Rembrandt. Pretty sure it’s supposed to be religious, but yeah, it pretty much just looks like a blowjob to me, too. I like it.”

 

“Of course you do.” Levi had come around the table and wrapped his arms around Eren, resting his head on his shoulder and turning it to look at the painting. They stood in silence, admiring the new addition to their apartment.

 

“How was your day?” Eren asked eventually. Levi had spent his day working at Survey. Eren’s little group had been more or less absorbed by them, giving each of the three of them offices and access to their resources. Considering how little work got done when Eren and Levi were in the building simultaneously, though, Eren tended to work from home most of the time.

 

“Would have been better if shitty-glasses wasn’t pestering me while I was trying to finish up the boring paperwork I’ve been saddled with. I swear Erwin is just using me to do his job so he can bang Mike in the conference room.”

 

Eren grimaced, “That is a mental picture I did not need, thank you. Now I never want to be in there again. At least they could use Erwin’s office.”

 

“It’s not like we have any room to talk.” Levi came around Eren’s front to give him a proper embrace and grinned wickedly at him. Eren’s face flushed as he remembered some of their less than innocent trists in more public parts of the Survey building.

 

“You were in a cast, we couldn’t use your office.”

 

“I’m not in a cast anymore.” Levi’s hands started wandering, one trailing up and down Eren’s back while the other moved to brush his hip before continuing on between them to palm at him. Eren groaned, already half hard.

 

“Finding inspiration in the art?” Eren still found it in himself to be cheeky, even with Levi’s hand teasing him through his pants.

 

“Well, if all you want is a blowjob…” Levi started to sink down but Eren stopped him, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him after him toward the bedroom.

 

Eren knew Levi wouldn’t relinquish control for long, but he hadn’t expected to be spun into the shorter man as soon as the door was closed only to be pushed back onto the bed. Levi kneeled between Eren’s legs, running his hands up the outside of his thighs. His hands came up, sneaking under the hemline of Eren’s shirt and caressing along the skin right above his jeans. Levi grabbed his hips and leaned down, placing a kiss on the scar peaking out of his jeans on his left hipbone. “I missed you while you were gone.”

 

Eren smiled, propping himself up on his forearms to look at Levi, “I missed you, too.” Eren had been gone on a job for the last two weeks, having returned the night before. What surely would have been a steamy welcome home then had quickly devolved when Eren passed out mid-kiss. Clearly, Levi wanted to make up for that now. His hands continued up Eren’s sides, pushing up his shirt in the process. His mouth followed behind, trailing kisses up his abs to his chest. Eren’s arms had been slipping, and when Levi’s mouth went to suckle at one of his now exposed nipples, they fell out from under him in favour of carding his hands through Levi’s hair.

 

Eren’s back arched as he moaned and Levi’s fingers curled, blunt nails scratching down his sides. Eren let his hands travel down Levi’s back before he grabbed at the shirt hem and pulled it up over Levi’s head, forcing him to part from Eren’s chest. Levi took the opportunity to help Eren the rest of the way out of his shirt as well. They both paused for a moment, Eren taking in Levi for the millionth time: the sharp cut of his muscles, his pale skin glowing under the muted light, the rise and fall of his chest as he inhaled.

 

Levi leaned forward, supporting himself on his hands on either side of Eren’s face. The kiss he placed on Eren’s lips was sweet, gentle. Eren returned it and built on it, igniting passion, but still keeping the sweetness. His hand ran up and down Levi’s sides, grinning into his mouth when he shivered in response. Eren’s hands stilled on Levi’s hips briefly before tightening there and flipping them over so he was straddling his waist. Before Levi could mount much of a retaliation, Eren scooted back down and began working at the zipper of his slacks, peeling the material away to reveal his boxers underneath.

 

All of Levi’s protests turned to repressed moans when Eren bent down to mouth wetly at Levi through his boxers. “Shit, Eren.” Levi hands flew to Eren’s hair, his gentle control faltering at Eren’s mouth on him and his hands running up and down his thighs.

 

Eren looked up at Levi, “I want to hear how much you missed me.” At that, he hooked his index fingers in the band of Levi’s boxers and pulled, watching his cock spring free. “You’re already so wet for me.” He kissed the hollow of Levi’s hips, then trailed sloppy, wet kisses across him, just barely avoiding where they both wanted him most. When Eren pulled away, Levi whined, which made Eren smile so big, it was Cheshire. His fingers ghosted along Levi’s hips as they bucked up into empty air before leaning back down to kiss at the base, eliciting a quiet groan. He licked his tongue up the underside, tasting the salty precome that had dripped down. When he got to the tip, he circled his tongue around it, staring up into Levi’s eyes.

 

“Ere—” his voice cut off when Eren took him into his mouth. He reveled in the sounds Levi let escape as he slowly sunk down. Levi’s hands tightened in Eren’s hair with the effort of keeping his hips still, causing Eren to moan around him. Eren’s hands wrapped around the base of Levi’s cock where his mouth didn’t reach and hollowed his cheeks as he pulled back again, pausing at the top to flick his tongue over the slit. He settled into a rhythm, encouraged by Levi’s moans and hands pulling at his hair.

 

When he felt Levi yank harder at his hair, he pulled off with a soft pop. Levi pulled him up to kiss him deeply, long since over complaining about it being unclean. Suddenly, the room flipped. Levi had caught him unawares and reversed their positions again. He made quick work of his jeans and boxers before flipping him to his stomach and running his hands over his ass. Eren reached up over his head to blindly search the nightstand he could barely reach. When he finally managed to find the handle, he pulled open the drawer and tried to lift his head enough to see. He felt Levi’s hands run up his sides and one followed the arm he had patting around in the drawer and directed his hand to the small bottle he had been trying to find.

 

Eren gasped when Levi ground his hips into his backside, his dick rubbing at the cleft of his ass. Eren’s fingers tightened around the little bottle and flung it back at Levi, “Levi…” he whined.

 

“Look who’s impatient now,” Levi whispered lowly in Eren’s ear. Eren heard the cap on the bottle pop open before Levi sat back between Eren’s thighs and cool, slick fingers massaged his ass, thumb circling the puckered flesh of his entrance. “Look at you, I missed your pretty ass.”

 

“If you don’t hurry up, you’ll keep missing it,” Eren said through gritted teeth, pushing back into Levi’s fingers.

 

“Is that how you want to play?” Levi pushed the tip of his index finger in, then pulled back, his hands disappearing completely. Eren’s moan quickly turned into an extended whine at the loss of contact. He tried to grind down into the sheets, but Levi grabbed his hips and pulled him up, keeping him from the much need friction.

 

“Levi,” He drew out the last syllable, involuntarily bucking his hips into empty air, begging for something, anything. He tried to sit up, but a hand between his shoulder blades kept him pressed into the sheets.

 

“Hey there, Bright Eyes.” Eren shivered at the hot breath on his ear. “Is there something you want?”

 

“Please… Need you, Levi.” Eren turned his head toward Levi and was rewarded with a sweet kiss. Levi’s kisses moved from his mouth to his jaw, down the back of his neck and along his spine. As he placed a kiss at the base of his spine, a finger pushed into him, making him groan at the intrusion. Levi gently moved the finger, stretching him open bit by bit, adding a second finger once he was loose enough. When he had managed to get a third finger in, he curved them and Eren’s legs shook with the effort of keeping himself propped up with the wave of ecstasy that ran through him. Levi continued brushing his fingers against the spot until Eren called his name again, desperate.

 

Levi’s fingers disappeared and Eren bit back another whine at the empty feeling, knowing the best was yet to come. He heard the ripping sound of the condom wrapper and waited a little less than patiently while Levi rolled it on.

 

Levi’s hands caressed his shoulders, “I want to see you.” Eren sagged and rolled over, letting Levi guide him. He watched Levi hungrily as he spread lube over himself, kneeling between Eren’s legs. Finished, Levi hooked Eren’s legs over his shoulders and lined himself up. As he slowly pushed in, he leaned forward, bending Eren nearly in half to kiss at his throat.

 

“Fuck, I missed you.” Eren whispered brokenly into the air while Levi bottomed out, filling Eren to the brim. Levi paused, waiting for him. He wiggled his hips and nodded once he adjusted to the fullness, signaling to Levi that it was ok to move. Levi pulled his hips back achingly slowly until he was nearly all the way out, then he thrust forward, hard. Eren cried out and grabbed Levi’s shoulders, pulling him down for a messy kiss.

 

Eren hips bucked to meet each of Levi’s thrusts. They maintained the rough pace Levi had set for them, quiet moans filling the air. Levi pulled back, adjusted his grip on Eren’s legs, and pushed back in. Eren opened his mouth and let out a scream when the change in angle let Levi brush against his prostate. Levi smirked and continued targeting the spot, reducing Eren to a moaning mess, mind blank with pleasure.

 

“L-levi, I’m g-gonna—” Eren’s voice cut off as Levi’s hand reached between them and began stroking his achingly hard cock. It didn’t take much before his vision went white and his stomach tensed. He felt the warm, sticky liquid between them as he came hard. Levi continued thrusting a few more times before Eren heard his name called breathily at Levi’s own release. Levi collapsed to Eren’s side after he pulled out, breathing hard.

 

“We need to keep wipes or some shit in here. I don’t feel like moving.” Levi’s voice found it’s way through Eren’s fuzzy mind. He smiled and started counting down in his head: _Three, two, one_. Right on cue, Levi shifted and swung his legs over the bed. He walked to the bathroom and Eren heard water running. He sighed, stretching out and basking in the post-coital glow. Levi came back in after a little while, damp towel in hand. He stood over Eren and gently cleaned him up.

 

When he had finished, he intertwined his fingers with Eren’s and tugged lightly, “Come on, I ran a bath.” Eren lazily rolled over, using Levi as leverage to pull himself off the bed on shaky legs. He let go of Levi’s hand just long enough to encircle his arm around the shorter man’s waist for the short walk to the bathtub. Eren stepped in first, Levi close behind. The water was warm and soothing, but the company is what really made it relaxing.

 

Eren rested his forehead on the back of Levi’s shoulder and tightened his arms around him, humming satisfactorily. Levi’s hand trailed over Eren’s arms under the water as he leaned back into his solid form. Eren let his mind wander while he enjoyed the closeness. It had been six months since they had faced their mutual demon in Kenny Ackerman. Eren didn’t think about the dead man often, but sometimes, he still managed to invade his mind. His death was almost too easy, even with Mikasa and Levi’s injuries. Cleaning up the body and keeping the deaths of him and his underlings was simple by Erwin’s standards. Hanji had dispatched all of the men they could find hiding to ambush them in the tree line, even if they had worried everyone with how long it took. There was never any word of the deaths or of gunshots in Maria Hill Cemetery. The whole matter never touched the public eye. The job had been easy, but it had left a lasting impression on all of them.

 

Both Levi and Mikasa spent time in Trost Mercy with Hanji afterwards. Mikasa had only been there a few hours, her wounds just needed stitches and once Hanji told her how to take care of them, she was released. Levi was another story. His leg had taken months to heal after Hanji reset it. He had refused to use a wheelchair, so he instead hobbled around on crutches even when the cast immobilised his knee. He tried to go back to work almost immediately but Erwin kicked him out and yelled at Eren for driving him there.

 

After that, Eren stopped driving him anywhere, and since he couldn’t drive stick shift with one leg in a cast, he was forced to stay in the apartment. Eren had playing the perfect caretaker, making sure Levi had everything he needed, even when he claimed he hadn’t needed anything. When he was switched to a smaller cast, Erwin let him come back to work, at which point Eren spent a lot of time attempting to work from the Survey building. Attempting, being the key word. Free from the immobility of the full leg cast, Levi was more than a little distracting.

 

They’d come a long way from strangers in a hotel bar. He supposed that Kenny Ackerman had a lot to do with them meeting at all. They had found out later that he was behind the double booking for Dawk’s assassination, so really, without Kenny, Eren and Levi may never have met. Or they may have met under much worse circumstances. That fact sometimes let Eren give an inkling of thanks to Levi’s father.

 

Eren sighed softly, turning his head to he could kiss the back of Levi’s neck. This gorgeous, grumpy man laying against him in their bathtub had practically fallen into his life. One coincidental accident after another pushed them together. If Eren believed in fate or anything, he would have said they were meant to be together. But he was a little more cynical than that. Instead, he chose to take the opportunity to appreciate all the little things that brought them together.

 

“Levi?”

 

Levi turned his head a bit, trying to see Eren, “Hmmm?”

 

“I love you.”

 

Levi sudden shift caught Eren off guard. He had managed to turn himself completely around, facing Eren, hands behind him on the edge of the tub for support. He searched Eren’s face with shock and uncertainty. Once the surprise faded, Eren returned the gaze, trying to show Levi how much he meant it. The silence stretched on and Eren’s cheeks grew pink with embarrassment. He opened his mouth to try to explain himself, brush it off, anything really, but Levi’s mouth on his stopped him. It was soft, sweet, and almost chaste. When Levi pulled back, his eyes were much softer, “I love you too, brat.”

 

Eren’s eyes widened. He didn’t know what he had expected, but it wasn’t that. But then his mind remembered all the ways they had said that same thing without words and a smile stretched his lips.

 

“Alright, stop with the sappy lovey shit, I’m starting to get pruney.” Levi turned again, this time moving to get up, but Eren pulled him back down.

 

“We could always go for round two,” Eren waggled his eyebrow lecherously while his hand reached around to squeeze Levi’s ass.

 

“Let go of me, you damn pervert. We’re not having sex in dirty bath water.” Levi went to stand again, and this time Eren let him while he pouted. Levi grabbed a towel from the rack nearby before turning back to Eren, still in the tub, “Maybe if you get out, I’ll let you fuck me.”

  
Eren nearly slipped, he got out of the tub so fast.


End file.
